The History of Konoha's Noble Green Beast
by lilagyptian
Summary: Little history had been told on Konoha's current Jonins. This is the tale of one of those great ninjas. The mystery revealed behind the man, his turtle, his rivalry, the elusive green jumpsuit and more!
1. Chapter 1 The Big Day

Authors Note: I do not own Naruto.

The History of Konoha's Noble Green Beast

CHAPTER ONE

Konoha: The hidden ninja leaf village.

This is a village that is revered for having some of the most powerful ninjas in all the land. Though caught up in the turmoil of the Great Ninja War, it was hard to tell how difficult the times were with how peaceful the village looked so early in the morning. The sun began to lift up over the horizon, spilling gently onto the quite village as the first signs of life began to stir. To many of the men and women in the village, today was just another day. Shopkeepers began to unlock their merchandise and set up displays, women began the morning tasks for their houses, kissing goodbye their husbands as they went off to work.

However, for one young boy, this was no ordinary day. No, today was the day he would meet the teammates for his three-man ninja squad. A day that nearly had him vibrating out of his skin. How he longed to be a ninja. To bond with his teammates, to share in adventures and work under some of the best Jonin the village had to offer. It was such an exhilarating thought that he practically burst at the seams with youthful joy. He was going to be turning eight soon, and the fact that he would be the youngest member of his class to graduate was nothing short of a thrill for him. Now they would see how truly talented he was!

Just then, his dream filled slumber was rudely interrupted by the sounds of an alarm clock chirping across the room. Like a flash of lightning he sprung from his bed and slammed the top of the clock, albeit a little too forcefully. "Damn" he cursed. "That's the 5th one. Mother is going to kill me." He picked up the small device and frowned at it. "They really need to make these things more durable."

"Gai-chan!" Called a whimsical voice from outside the door. "Are you awake my dear? It is time to get ready for school. Today is a big day for you!"

Gai's eyes ignited with a fiery light. "Yosh! I will be down in a flash mother!"

"Alright dear. Don't go too quickly though." His mother chimed through the door. "I don't want you to break your alarm clock again."

Gai flinched at the statement. Another frown crossed his lips at the idea of having to buy a new alarm clock with his allowance. He knew he had no choice though. As sweet as his mother was, if she found out that he had broken another alarm clock; she would smack him all the way to hot springs. He shuddered at the thought and quickly hid the broken device in his closet to deal with later. "As important as it is to replace that clock, there are far greater things on my plate today." Gai walked over to the mirror and pointed at his reflection. "Today, you my friend shall become a member of the greatest ninja team that has ever graced Konoha! Yosh! That's right, you my friend. Now go out there and show them what the great Maito Gai is capable of!"

Gai gave a loud cheer and charged towards his bedroom door. He swung it open with a violent pull and sprinted down the stairs, nearly barreling his mother over in the process. "Gai!" she cried, catching her balance on the railing.

"Sorry mother, but I have to get to class!" Gai said, waving behind him as he swung the front door open.

"Gai-chan wait!" She cried.

Gai marched proudly out the door, his head held high, knowing his destiny was just down the street at the academy. He took in a deep breath of the chilly fresh morning air, opening his eyes wide to take in the sights of the morning. That's when he noticed the strange looks the people on the street were giving him.

"Gai-chan!" His mother cried from the door. "Get back in the house, you need your clothes!"

Gai looked down in horror as he realized he was standing in the street in his turtle print boxers. The pedestrians stared on in disbelief at the sight of the young boy standing half-naked before them. One of the merchants gave a snicker, which was soon followed by other snickers. A mother quickly slapped her hand over her young daughter's eyes and gave Gai a dirty look before ushering her child down the street. Gai felt the crimson flush across his skin.

He flew quickly as he could back into the house, slamming the door shut behind him. He could hear the people outside start to break out into laughter. "That's Gai for you!" he could hear one of the merchants shout through the door. Gai cursed silently too himself. _Such an uncool way to start the morning_, he thought. The laughter continued as Gai stomped up the stairs to his bedroom, hanging his head in shame. His mother stared up at him with sympathetic eyes and was about to follow when a strong hand landed on her shoulder. "Don't worry about him honey; I shall take care of it."

She nodded and watched the strong figure walk up the stairs towards her son's bedroom.

"Son!" Came a bang at the door. "Son, allow me to speak with you for a moment."

The door slowly slid open. Gai was now fully dressed; wearing his black pants and sandals. He was sporting a white top that opened at the front but was securely tied with a white belt. It was nothing extraordinary. He preferred more color, but it was what his mother had chosen for him the other day as a special gift for graduating from the academy. He would at least wear it for a while, until he could come up with something to better suit his style.

He gave his father a radiant smile. "Do not worry about me father. I will be fine. A small embarrassment such as that is nothing to a ninja like me." Gai pounded his chest with his fist and puffed himself up to look tougher.

His father's eyes began to well with tears. "Oh Gai, I could not feel luckier to have such a radiant and youthful son!" He wrapped his arms around Gai who only returned the tears and hug in full force. "Father!" he cried. They held their form in the hallway for what seemed like an eternity to his mother, now tapping her foot at the end of the hall.

"Gentlemen, I just wanted to let you know that you have 20 minutes to eat and get to the academy, if you plan on joining your new team today."

Gai's eyes lit with fire again. He could not miss such an important event! Like a flash of light, Gai leapt from his father's arms and took off down the stairs, double-checking himself to make sure he was dressed this time. He spun into the kitchen and grabbed a handful of hard boiled eggs from the center of the table as well as the hot sauce bottle off the shelf. Cracking the eggs furiously he began shoving them into his mouth, and then quickly took a swig of the hot sauce. Oh how he loved the burn of hot sauce. Unfortunately, he took on a little too much a proceeded to choke on the sudden sensation heat and overload of egg in his mouth.

"Gai-chan, slow down! You'll choke to death before you make it to school!" His mother cried, wide-eyed from the doorway.

By some miracle, he finally managed to swallow the food in his mouth. Panting slightly he turned to his mother with a smile. "Do not worry mother, I will not die from something as silly as an egg."

His mother clutched her chest with her free hand while the other adjusted the laundry basket on her hip. "You may not die, but your mother will die from a heart attack if you keep doing such ridiculous things!"

She barely managed to get the words from her lips before her son was out the door and on his way to the school. She peered out after him and gave a sigh as she watched the young boy tear through the crowds, bumping into strangers as he went. "That boy will be the end of me." She moaned, dropping to her knees in exhaustion. She then noticed the shadow of her husband towering over her. She looked up to see the tears still welling in his eyes as he watched their son dashing through the street.

"The true spirit of Konoha burns in our son my love." He looked down at his wife and offered her his hand to help her up to her feet. "It is only natural for such a youthful glow to be overwhelming to old folks such as us." His arm suddenly began to sting as his wife swatted him several times. She then brought the laundry back up to her side and gave him a rather harsh glare.

"Speak for yourself you old fart! I'm not some old hag!" and with that, she stomped down the hall, husband quick in toe scratching the back of his head. "No, my lovely flower, that isn't what I meant!"

Gai continued to dash through the streets, picking up the pace as he went. Once the academy was within sight, Gai could feel his spirits lifting further. "Alight!" He shouted. "Time for the final buuuuuuurst!" He picked up his pace even more so than before, oblivious to the people around him. He leapt over the lower fence surrounding the academy and quickly ran smack into another student.

"Yipe!" Cried the poor boy, shocked by the sudden weight careening into him. The two boys toppled like a couple of rag dolls before landing squarely at the feet of a group of young girls. Gai lifted his head up from the mess. "Hmmm…perhaps that was a little too much burst for such a short run." He mused to himself, scratching his chin.

"Get off me you bowl haired freak!" Shouted the spiky haired boy beneath him. The young boy pushed in vain to get the much larger academy student off him.

Gai looked down at the innocent bystander he had taken out. "Ah, Obito-san! Thank you so much for breaking my fall. You are a good friend." Gai smiled at the poor Uchiha that lay horrified beneath him.

"I didn't do it willingly, now get off of me!" He cried, giving one last shove to push Gai off him.

Obito quickly hopped to his feet and brushed the dirt from himself. He glared at Gai while trying to make himself as presentable as possible though be paused briefly when he became very aware of the young girls behind him that were now giggling at their little performance. He felt his cheeks begin to burn and quickly dashed off in the opposite direction to hide it before they noticed. He thought he was finally safe when a young boy standing off to the side shouted after him.

"Yo, Obito! Saying hello to your boyfriend?" A lanky boy with long black hair tied into a ponytail teased, giving him a wry grin. The boy nudged his friend beside him, who proceeded to chuckle at the comment.

"Shut up Ryota!" He screamed at the boy. He then turned his attention to the friend. He pointed his finger at him as if he was threatening him with a weapon. "And Asuma: I swear on your father's life if you say anything I'll stick that tooth-pick in your mouth right up your butt!" Both Ryota and Asuma put their hands up in feigned defense as they watched the Uchiha storm off into the school. Both started to chuckle again and went back to tossing kunai at an old tree next to the school since there was nothing interesting left to watch in the yard.

Gai finally took notice to the young girls giggling together.

"Oh, Kurenai-chan, Rin-chan, Riko-chan and Anko-chan. Lovely to see you." He gave a sheepish wave to the group, cursing at himself for looking so uncool in front of the girls. The girls continued to giggle. Anko gave him an evil grin. "Yo Gai! See you still haven't lost that silly hair-cut."

The girls continued to snicker. Gai frowned and felt his face begin to turn red. Why did he have to be so uncool with the ladies? "Oi." Came a male voice from behind him. "Pick yourself up already; you are not helping your bad image."

Gai noticed the young girl's faces turn from giggles to ogles as they stared at the boy behind him. Gai rolled over to stare up at another spiky haired boy that was towering over him.

"Good morning Kakashi-kun!" The girls shouted in unison. Kakashi continued to stare at Gai on the ground, giving a wave to the girls yet never making eye contact. Gai could not help but feel his inner rage boil. How was it that Kakashi was so cool? He could practically hear the girls behind him melting for the Hatake!

"I…I…uh." Gai furiously thought for an excuse. His eyes suddenly lit with a revelation. "I'm just getting ready to do some floor exercises before class. Part of my morning ritual to stay in top condition!" Gai then attempted to perform a couple crunches. "Come Kakashi! I challenge you to see who can do more sit-ups!"

Kakashi raised a silver eyebrow at the boy on the ground before walking off toward the class without saying another word. The girls were quick in toe behind him. Hatake Kakashi was a unique child. While he was the same age as the students around him, he was not actually a member of their class. Kakashi was considered a child genius and had graduated from the academy at just the age of five. The following year he had also made Chunin. The team that he had been working with had always kind of resented having the young Hatake on their team, thinking it looked ridiculous to have a teammate that was nearly 7 years younger than them. Furthermore, he could run circles around them with his skills, which only added fuel to the fire, especially when he looked so laid back and unaffected while doing it. Over time, they had learned to accept having the younger teammate. He was an excellent shinobi if nothing less. However, there was always a bit of a social barrier between him and the others because of the large age gap. Kakashi had never minded. He was always more interested in the mission than spending time bonding. Kakashi was now nine and there was already talk about making him a Jonin, though many believed the rumors to be merely talk. The village was certainly desperate for more ninjas but the idea of a 9-year-old Jonin was ridiculous!

Kakashi briefly paused at the entrance of the academy, taking a small note of the pack of girls trailing him without actually turning around. He had much-preferred working with his older teammates. With them, it had only been about the training and the missions. None of this weird giggling girl crap. Kakashi gave a small sigh and walked through the door. He was not happy about being reassigned to a new team, but his former teacher explained that it would be in his best interest to learn how to work with nin his own age. Kakashi thought back to the display in the yard he had just witnessed earlier. These nin were incompetents, not equals by any account! He doubted he would enjoy who his new teammates were no matter what his former teacher had told him.

Of all the girls following behind Kakashi, the four that had been giggling earlier huddled close to one another, never taking their eyes off him. They had all been informed of Kakashi joining up with a new team today and eagerly awaited to find out who was on his team.

"This is it girls." Anko said in a hushed tone, pumping her fist in front of her. "The day we have been waiting for!"

Riko nearly squealed. "Who will be on Kakashi-kun's team!"

Rin gave a sheepish smile.

"We all remember the rules right?" Kurenai looked at her friends with a warning eye. The girls nodded with enthusiasm.

"Whoever gets onto Kakashi's team is the one that gets to try and become his girlfriend. The others must accept defeat and search for another love." Riko said, giving a serious nod to Kurenia, who returned it.

"We are to remain friends with the winner no matter what, since we have all agreed to this." Rin added.

"And the others, as her friends will help by defending against other girls attempting to get his attention." Riko added, running her fingers through her long wavy blonde hair.

"By kicking the shit out of them." Anko grinned as she tossed her dango stick off into the bushes.

"That was never part of the deal!" Rin said, wide-eyed to her friend's violent tendencies.

"Yeah, but there is nothing in the rules saying we can't. Gotta get that frustration out somehow if I lose!" Anko mused with a wicked grin.

Kurenai sighed. Anko was so aggressive sometimes. "And the final rule?" she paused before the doorway, causing her friends to stop as well.

Anko sighed. "No cheating, flirting or stealing. If the winner fails, the others can try."

Kurenai placed her hand in the middle of the circle. "All in agreement?" The girls quickly added their hands to the center, locking eyes with one another.

"Wait a sec." Rin interrupted. "What happens if none of us get on his team?"

The girls looked at each other with horrified eyes. Riko shook her head and gave Rin a gentle nudge in the ribcage. "That's impossible Rin. The odds are totally in our favor!"

"Yeah, try not to be so negative." Anko gave her a toothy grin.

Kurenai looked around the circle one last time. "So…are we agreed then?"

The girls lifted their hands in unison. "Hai!"

Gai, now finished with his floor exercises, lifted himself off the ground as he watched the girls take their oath. He had yet to grasp what was so wonderful about Kakashi. Well, that was a lie, he knew exactly what was so wonderful about Kakashi. He knew all about him. Everyone did. The amazing Hatake Kakashi, renowned genius of the Hatake clan. Graduating at an incredibly young age and excelled to be a Chunin just as quickly. He felt his blood boil again with the jealousy that such a kid could have things come to him so naturally. Gai had been scraping just to get out of the academy at age 7 and it was this close to not counting, with his birthday not too far away.

Gai then returned his attention back to the girls at the door. Kakashi had totally ignored them and yet they acted like hopeless groupies. Gai figured there was not one person possibly more arrogant and super cool as Kakashi. How Gai longed for the girls to look at him the way they looked at the silver haired Chuunin, and for the boys to give him the same silent respect as he passed them by. Gai feared he would never understand women and how they could be into a guy with such an attitude problem, yet he felt that in order to win their affection, he would likely have to learn and master the 'coolness' that Kakashi had so naturally. As Gai walked towards the entrance to the school with a sigh, he felt a rough shove to his shoulder, causing him to stumble back a bit as another student pushed passed him. "Watch it fuzzy eyebrows!" snapped the boy before disappearing into the entrance.

Okay, so maybe the arrogant race was a close tie between Koji and Kakashi.

Minato sat peacefully on his stool at the Ichiraku Ramen Shop. It was still early, but Minato was such a loyal customer that the shopkeeper rarely complained if he came by looking for Ramen early in the morning.

"Here ya go!" The shop keep said, breaking Minato from his daze as he placed the bowl of steaming ramen in front of him. "One bowl of ramen with extra grilled pork and egg."

"Arigato!" Minato gave the shop keep a gentle smile, reaching out for a set of chopsticks. Minato drooled slightly as the smell hit is nose. Oh how he loved that smell. "Time to eat! This looks delicious." He said licking his lips and breaking the chopsticks apart. As he reached for his first bite, he paused at the sound of a familiar voice reaching his ears.

"That bowl of salt is going to kill you Minato-kun!" the young woman cried as she grabbed the chair next to him.

"Misaki-chan!" Minato gave her a soft smile. "Thank you for being so concerned for my health, but we all need some small pleasures in our lives."

Misaki gave him a skeptical look. "And as your best friend I am only telling you because your blood pressure is going to be through the roof before you're 30 if you keep it up!"

"Did you just come to lecture me on my diet?" Minato frowned.

With a sigh, Misaki turned her head toward the shopkeeper. "One beef and vegetable ramen please."

The shopkeeper gave a curt nod and went quick to work. Misaki gave a big stretch over her head and a loud yawn. Morning was definitely not her time of day. Kurakumo Misaki: Konoha Jonin and best friend of Namizake Minato. The two of them had been friends since they were in the academy together. Both were hard workers, determined to be the best at what they did. They were often seen training together when they were Genin, even though they were not on the same team. Both had been rising through the ranks together from the very beginning. Misaki often looked up to Minato, believing much of her success was due to him pushing her to be a better ninja, though she was sure Minato also gave her some credit for his success.

Misaki was quite a pretty woman. Her dark strawberry blonde hair fell in straight lengths around her face to just over her shoulders. Her green eyes sparkled the same color as her uniform, which was comprised of a dress that swept to one side and was pulled in at the waist by a belt that sported her Konoha head protector on the front. She also wore a pair of full length green pants under the dress, covering most of her body, except the arms, which had a long strand of tattoo markings running down the inside of each. Her wrists jingled as she moved from the small silver beads of her bracelets clacking together, matching the ones that ran across her forehead in bands.

"You are aware that it's 9AM?" She mused as the shop keep set the bowl of ramen in front of her.

Minato raised one eyebrow, giving her a quizzical look and then motioned to the bowl now in front of her. She gave a small huff. "I only ordered because it would be rude to sit here and talk to you without getting anything!"

Both returned their attention to the ramen in front of them. Minato quickly dug into his bowl, a content smile on his face. Misaki gave a poke to the food and took a small bite. It was not that she disliked ramen. It was pretty good stuff, but at nine in the morning it was a tad overwhelming. She soon felt her taste buds adjusting to the strong sensation of salt and actually began to enjoy her meal.

"So." Said Minato in between mouthfuls. "What is it you wanted to talk about?"

"Sarutobi-sensi informed me you grabbed my team assignment this morning before I got there and I was hoping to get it from you." She said, pointing to the two envelopes beside him on the counter.

"Mph." Minato said with a mouthful of Ramen. He reached for the folder and handed it over to her. "I'm so sorry! I usually see you first thing in the morning and figured I would save you the time of traveling there."

Misaki smiled. "We'll so much for that." She took the envelope from him and proceeded to open it. Her eyes perused the names of her students. The smile quickly turned to a frown. "What the hell is this?" She stared back up at Minato. "He's not on my team."

Minato gave a sheepish smile. "That's because he is on my team." Minato quickly hopped to another seat to avoid being hit. Misaki was generally a calm person, but he could tell she was on the verge of tearing down the ramen shop with this news. The idea of his precious ramen shop being destroyed also concerned him.

"How is he on YOUR team? I had specifically asked for Hatake Kakashi to be on my squad!" Her hands shook as she looked at the assignment in front of her, clearly lacking the picture of the young Hatake.

"Please Misaki-chan! Hokage-sama would not just reassign Kakashi to my team for no reason. He is a wise man, and fits teams together by personality as best as possible." Minato took a quick duck, thinking that Misaki was about the throw a punch, when in fact she grabbed his envelope sitting next to him. She opened it and examined his team.

"This is a good fit?" She slammed her finger on the pictures of the two boys in the file. "These two are liable to kill each other!"

Minato tried to provide her with a sympathetic smile. "I know how much it meant to you to have him on your team, but try to understand Misaki. All things happen for a reason-"

Misaki was practically shaking with anger now. "How? How could he? I made a promise. I promised I would help train that boy." She began to rise from her seat. "I must go speak with the Hokage and straighten this whole thing out."

Minato became very worried. It had been a long time since he had seen Misaki this shaken up. The last time she was this shaken up was at... "I understand your frustration, but perhaps you are too close to this situation emotionally. Look at yourself. You are one of the most collected women I know and you are breaking down like a child." Minato grabbed her wrist, preventing her from leaving.

Misaki glared at him, brushing the hair out of her eyes with her free hand. A moment of silence was held between the two, green eyes matching his blue ones. "I made a promise to that man." She hissed between her teeth.

Minato pulled the women back down into her seat and placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. "I know, and I respect your intention. But just because he is not on your team does not mean you cannot help him become a better ninja." Misaki stared back into her half eaten bowl of ramen with a look a defeat on her face. "Just look at this as an opportunity. You are a very talented ninja Misaki; you will be an excellent teacher to these other students. Do not give up just because he was not assigned to you." He pointed to Misaki's folder. "These students need you just as much as he would have. I promise to do my best with him and who knows, you may still get your chance to work with him still."

There was a long pause between the two again. Misaki seemed to be debating the issue over in her head. Finally, she let out a sigh and turned her face towards Minato with a dramatic look. "Oh, wise older brother, always ready with another speech." She drawled getting a smirk back in return. She placed her hand on top of his. "Thank you for setting my feet straight on the ground. I should try to be the best I can for these students, though I am still a bit disappointed." She sighed. "What would I do without you Minato?"

Minato crooked his head to the side and grinned. "You would probably still be running around in the Chunin exams." He teased.

She swatted his arms away, the atmosphere now completely ruined. "Without me, so would you!" She huffed. Minato lifted his hands in defense. "I know, I know!" He said, holding back a chuckle knowing he's gotten under her skin. Minato stood up and covered the bill for both his ramen and hers. "My treat for stealing your student." He said, giving her a wink.

A flicker of both shock and horror graced Misaki's face but she quickly recomposed herself. "Hmph." She stuck her nose in the air. "In that case, if you're trying to make up for it, you can buy be BBQ later this week AND sake." Minato quickly reached out and lifted her hand up. "Deal." He said, placing a quick kiss on the top before running off down the street.

Misaki pulled her hand towards herself and wrinkled her nose is disgust yelling after her best friend. "Thanks a lot Minato, now I'm going to have to burn this thing."

Minato turned around, pulled down on the lid of his eye, and stuck out his tongue before disappearing around the corner of a building. Despite his put together and polite appearance, Minato could act like such a child when he was around her, probably because she had been putting up with him since he was a child. He really was just as annoying as a real brother. Misaki returned to her bowl of ramen giving a low growl. "Idiot." She muttered. He had better not mess up that boy's training.

She then spotted the list of her students out of the corner of her eye on the table. She picked it up and began to reexamine it a little better than before, picking away at her breakfast. She perused the details of her new team and furrowed her eyebrows when she suddenly noticed the pictures of each student that had been provided. "What is up with that haircut?"

Hope to update again soon. Reviews welcome!


	2. Chapter 2 Class in Session

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

The History of Konoha's Noble Green Beast

CHAPTER 2

The classroom slowly began to fill with noise as academy students filed in, taking their seats. Obito was still a little irritated from the incident earlier and shuffled in with his eyes focused on the floor. He could not stand Maito Gai. He was such a weirdo and now thanks to him, he was the laughing stock of all his friends. Obito brought his eyes up from the floor and noticed a chair propped up in the corner of the room. Normally he would have taken a spot next to Asuma and Ryota, but the boys had laughed at him earlier and he was not in the mood to be teased anymore. Obito walked over and took the seat in the corner, trying to look as lax as possible. He watched the other students slowly file in and felt the sudden heat on his cheeks when a familiar kunoichi walked through the door with her friends.

She had the most peaceful smile on her face. The one that always gave him a whirling sensation in his stomach. Rin didn't even notice him as she filed in. She was too busy chatting away with her friends. The girls took their seats at the front of the room as they always did. Obito continued to stare at her in a half daze, imagining what it would be like to approach her about his feelings. He knew deep down inside, he would probably never work up the courage to tell her how he felt; it just made him too nervous. If he were lucky, maybe she would end up on his team and approach him instead. He figured the odds of that were unlikely though.

No. He shook his head. He would have to tell her himself…someday.

Obito was broken from his trance-like state by the sound of a foot tapping beside him. He looked up to find Kakashi looking down at him, his arms across his chest with a nonchalant look on his face. "You're in my seat." He said.

Obito took a second to register, and then crossed his arms across his chest to match the Hatake. "I don't see your name on it!" He snapped. Students in the classroom began to turn around and watch the scene in the back.

Kakashi raised his eyebrows, surprised that someone would actually talk back to him like that. This academy student must not know who he was dealing with. "What is your rank?" Kakashi asked.

Obito looked at him quizzically. "I'm a Genin." He replied with an indignant huff.

Kakashi crooked his head to the side, looking somewhat amused by the boy's response. "Really? Who is on your team?"

"What?"

"You're team. As a Genin, you must have a team."

Obito's eyes lowered into a glare. "I don't know who is on my team yet."

"Because you have not been assigned to one?"

Obito nodded.

"Then you are not a Genin yet." Kakashi pointed to the students in front of him. "Academy students should sit at their desks like they are supposed to."

"You can't tell me what to do!" Obito was getting really annoyed. Today was turning out to be a bad day. First, bowl head had knocked him to the ground and now this asshole was getting on his case about a stupid chair.

"Basic ninja rules. Ninja must respect the authority of those higher ranking than themselves." Kakashi smirked under his mask. "As a Chunin, I clearly outrank you. Now move it before I move you."

Obito was furious. "Bring it on Hatake!" He snapped, perching on the edge of his seat about to rush the young man when a sharp female voice cut him off.

"Obito! Move, before WE move you!" Anko hissed. She was now perched on the back row of desks, cracking her knuckles with a sadistic grin on her face. The remainder of the female population in the room was also giving him death glares, creating a creepy effect. Obito felt like the prey to a bunch of hungry wolves. "You remember what happened last time you tangled with me?" Anko cooed.

Obito could see Asuma and Ryota both snickering at the desk behind Anko. Now he REALLY was the laughing stock of the room. Obito felt the heat in his eyes as he held back the tears of embarrassment. He quickly stood up and headed towards his seat, making sure to hit Kakashi with his shoulder as he walked by. He kept his head down without saying a word.

Obito was about to reach his seat when a flash of black hair suddenly whipped by and landed in his spot. "Yosh!" Gai exclaimed. "40 sprints of the hallway and was still not the last one sitting in class. I really out did myself this morning!" Obito felt his eye twitch. Karma was clearly having fun at his expense today. "Move…" he growled with his head still down. Gai turned and looked up at the fuming boy next to him, oblivious to the negative aura surrounding Obito. He gave him a big smile. "But Obito-san. I don't see your name on this seat."

The whole class burst out into laughter. Gai gave them all a confused look, unsure what to make of it. Obito was furious. He drew back his hand ready to clobber the poor boy when another arm came out of nowhere and caught him by the elbow. "There is no need to get into a fist fight Obito-kun." Said the young man.

Obito looked back at him. "Ebisu?"

Ebisu adjusted the glasses on his face. "If you start a fight now, it's unlikely that you will be allowed to stay and get your team assignment. You wouldn't want to get held back by something as stupid as a petty fight now would you?"

Obtio stood frozen in place, but eventually relaxed and allowed Ebisu to lead him over to another set of desks, taking one seat as Obito followed suit.

Gai leaned back in his chair slightly. "If it means that much to you my friend, we can share this seat." He slid over slightly, offering half the chair.

Obito felt a shudder run down his spine. "Don't say such weird things!" He cried. Ebisu held the Uchiha by the scruff of his shirt, to prevent him from launching at Gai. He finally calmed down and lowered his head on the desk.

"That bowl haired loser makes my blood boil." Obito hissed under his breath.

"You're just saying that because you're having a bad day." Ebisu leaned back in his chair to look at Gai who was now attempting to chat up Asuma and Ryota about his daily workout regiment in detail. Asuma had to occasionally lean and duck to avoid being hit by Gai's large arm gestures. Ebisu readjusted the glasses on his face. "Though, I won't deny he is a weirdo."

Asuma felt a little bad for his friend. Sure it had been fun teasing Obito, but it was clear things were going a little too far. "Hey Obito, take it easy man. You take stuff way to seriously." The only response he got was a subtle glare out of the corner reflection of Obito's goggles.

Kakashi took a seat in his chair, leaning back into it with a sigh. What a pain these academy students were! He then noticed that Anko was still perched on the back desk looking at him. He locked eyes with her. "Can I help you?"

Anko gave another wide grin. "Anytime you want Kakashi-kun." She said, giving him a wink. With that, she spun around and took her spot next to the other girls at the front of the room. Kakashi's eyes widened for a second at the comment but quickly went back to their lazy droop as if nothing had happened. Riko was stifling back a laugh. It really was amazing how forward Anko could be, even in front of Kakashi. It was as if the girl was born without fear…or a filter for her mind. Rin made up for her though, blushing furiously on her behalf. "Honestly Anko…" Kurenai tsked. Anko shrugged her shoulders and kicked her feet up onto the desk.

The room was now bustling with sound as everyone continued to chat away as they waited for the teacher to arrive. It seemed to be taking forever this morning, but it likely had to do with the excitement most were feeling about finally being assigned to a team. With a sudden puff of purple smoke, the teacher finally appeared in the middle of the class. The girls at the front coughed as the remnants of the smoke wafted towards them.

"Sensei!" Kurenai cried. "You over did it again with the smoke!"

"Gomen. Gomen!" The young man said, scratching the back of his head. His short black hair jutted out in just about every direction and was accented with grey streaks on each side. The students had always wondered how such a young man was already going grey, to which he always blamed the liveliness of the classroom. The teacher walked over to his desk and took a seat. He sat quietly for a few moments shuffling papers on his desk. The class had now hushed as they waited on their teacher. "So," he mused "what is on the agenda today…"

Gai hopped out of his seat and slammed his hands on the desk. "Sensei! Don't tell me you forgot our team assignments?" The terrified look on the boy's face caused giggles to ripple through the room. Asuma gave a tug on Gai's shirt. "Sit down you idiot."

The teacher held back his own smirk and reached into the side of his desk. "Easy Gai, you're always so animated! I know about the team assignments." He stood up with the folder in his hand. "Today will be the first day you will meet your Genin teammates. You have all been assigned based on skill, personality and academic success. We shall start with team one" the teacher ran a long finger down the sheet until he came across the names he was looking for. "Team one shall be Yuhi Kurenai, Inuzuka Ryota and Aburame Jin."

"Ewww, gross Kurenai! You got bugs and dogs on your team." Anko teased. Kurenai gave her a frown. Guess her chances of being on Kakashi's team were already dashed.

The teacher continued reading names. "Team 5 shall have Matarashi Anko…." The teacher drawled on. Anko listened intently and finally gave a scowl.

"Ha! No Kakashi for you either." Kurenai stuck out her tongue at Anko who returned it in kind.

"Team 7 shall have Hatake Kakashi…"

There was a brief gasp among the female population of the room. The teacher paused. "Did I say something wrong?" He queried.

Obito let out a snort. "Just ignore them Sensei. That idiot at the back of the room seems to have some spell over them." Obito looked at the back of the room, hoping to have pissed the young ninja off, yet only ended up infuriating himself when he noticed the unfazed look on Kakashi's face.

"Oh?" The teacher said. "I see…well maybe you can help resolve that problem since he's your new teammate." The teacher gave an overly large smile.

Obito's eyes widened with horror, spinning back to look at the teacher "What! No friken way! I'm not going to be paired up with that loser!"

"My sentiments exactly." Came a bored voiced from the back corner of the room.

Obito spun on his heal again and glared at Kakashi. "Shut up! It's bad enough I'm going to have to put up with being your teammate."

"Technically, our ranks make me you my subordinate rather than teammate." Kakashi mused. A slight wrinkle in his mask indicated that he was smiling at the Uchiha.

Obito was about to blow his top. "Go to hell you no good—"

"Obito, sit down!" The teacher snapped. Obito turned back to the front and flopped into the chair, crossing his arms and staring off into the space in front of him. He could not believe his terrible luck.

"The final team member will be Rin." The teacher said, looking over and smiling at his favorite student. She was so quiet and calm. If only all children came that way. The sound of disappointed moans filled the room as Rin was announced the final teammate.

"Congratulations." Anko said with mild sarcasm. "Aren't you lucky today?"

Rin was so stunned that she had actually been paired on Kakashi's team that she could not bring herself to say anything. Riko waved her hand in front of the young girls face. "Earth to Rin?"

Riko suddenly felt an odd heat on the back of her neck. She looked behind to find all the young women in the class shooting daggers into the back of poor Rin's head. "I guess you have to take the bad with the good." She mused. She would not deny that she felt the urge to join in with the glaring. She had been aching to get onto Kakashi's team just like all the others, but she had made a promise and as hard as it was, she didn't want to be the kind of person who would abandon a friend over a boy. No matter how cute he was…so…very…very...cute. She felt her inner self-kicking and screaming to do something. To demand a reassignment, but she held back her urge by pricking her thumb with a kunai she pulled out of one of her hip pouches. She finally felt the voice of reason come back to her mind, or at least the mind that wasn't pumping full of hormones.

The names continued on, with no more arguments. Finally, there were only a few teams left to group. "Maito Gai" the teacher announced.

Gai's eyes lit up with excitement. This was it! Finally, it was his turn. He felt his hands begin to shake with anticipation.

"Maito Gai will be paired up with Kienso Riko."

"Hiya!" Gai shouted a little too loud. Riko's head dropped in shame. Off all the shinobi in all the class. Why him? Gai was a loony bin. He was always saying and doing such strange and loud things in class. He was pretty well the laughing stock of the academy, and now she was on his team. She looked back at her friends who looked both amused and horrified for her. The other girls had at least gotten somewhat normal teammates. "Why me?" She whimpered. Rin placed a gentle hand on her friend's shoulder to comfort her.

Gai could not have been more excited. Of all the girls in the class, Riko was one of his top picks for his team. She was a very talented ninja but more than that, she was super super cute! Rin was nine years old. She came from the Kienso family, which had only recently joined up with the Konoha village over the last 10 years. They were readily welcomed into the village for their amazing weapon artisanship. They owned the best weapon's shop in the village. Anyone who needed a repair or a new blade was sure to see them first before anyone else. Riko's weapon background was evident in the way she dressed. Her cream-colored shirt flowed as she moved but was held in place with straps that ran across her whole torso in an x formation; similar to the one Kakashi wore. The straps had various hooks and pouches intended for handling an array of weapons as necessary.

Riko had long blonde hair that fell down to the middle of her back in waves. She had bright brown eyes and the cutest face Gai had ever seen. It was true she tended to take part in his teasing ritual with the other girls, but he had always imagined she was just playing along to fit in. At least that was what he hoped. He really had a thing for the cute little blonde-haired girl.

The teacher continued with the team assignment. "Finally, your other teammate shall be Hyuuga, Koji."

The young Hyuuga also hung his head in disappointment. Rin sighed with relief. At least she had one normal teammate.

Hyuuga Koji was the only member of his elite clan to be in this year's class. He was well respected within the academy because of his background and he new it. While he certainly was a talented ninja, he was also very aware of the influence his clan had and the cockiness tended to show. He was an attractive young man and the background certainly helped with his appeal in the classroom. If Kakashi had not been there, he would have likely been getting all the attention. It was somewhat annoying watching the girls pay attention to another person in the class today, but he was a calm ninja and new the importance of showing dignity while representing his clan.

Koji kept his hair in the long straight traditional tie that the men in his family always did. His face was typically graced with a smirk but the look of shear disappointment on his face from being put on Gai's team had eradicated it. He had no issues with Riko, but Gai was a loser, and he did not need anyone tarnishing his reputation.

Gai looked concerned for a brief moment, but then thought it over more carefully. He had an elite Hyuuga on his team. What an opportunity to challenge himself to the max. "Alright!" He cried. "This team is gonna rock all of you!" He hopped up on the desk, pointing in every direction at the other classmates.

There was a brief awkward silence in the room and Asuma quickly grabbed him by the shirt again. "Sit down you idiot." He muttered.

The teacher continued with the listing of teams until everyone was matched up. He gave one last look around the room. He could not help but be bothered with just how young this class was. The typical class of academy students was not supposed to leave until they were around 12. Most of the students in this class were around just nine! The oldest student in the class was Ebisu and he was only 10, maybe on the verge of 11. The teacher gave a sigh. "These are desperate times." He muttered. He gave one last look up at the class. "Alright everyone please remain seated here until your Jonin teachers arrive. You will then head off for your initial meeting. I wish you all the best of luck." And with that, he vanished with a puff of smoke.

The girls at the front gave another series of coughs. "He really does need to learn how to use the door." Muttered Riko.

Everyone remained in their seats, chatting away as Jonins slowly began to appear in the doorway and call away the teams. Kurenai gave a quick wave goodbye as she dashed out the door after her new Sensei, followed shortly by Anko and her team.

Rin continued to remain silent, fidgeting with her forehead protector and occasionally glancing back at the Uchiha that was pouting and the Hatake who looked like he was asleep. Riko leaned over to her friend. "Don't worry Rin; I'm sure you'll love it. You have Kakashi on your team. You're so lucky!"

Rin peered over to her friend. "You're not mad?"

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't really jealous. But a deal is a deal." Riko sighed. Rin looked worried. "Stop worrying Rin! I'm aloud to be jealous!" Riko poked herself with the kunai again as she felt her inner demons surfacing.

Rin looked down at Riko's hand. "Riko-chan! You're bleeding everywhere!" Riko looked down and realized that maybe she had over done it with the Kunai a little bit. Rin immediately went into her pouch and pulled out some medical supplies, tending to her wound. "You really shouldn't do that to yourself, you can get diseases that way."

Riko smirked at her over worried friend. "Yes mother." She teased.

Rin gave her a sheepish smile cheering up a little bit, as she tended to the wound. "I thought I would be jumping out of my seat if I was picked."

Rin was about to say something else when a very loud ninja landed in between them.

"Riko-chan!" Shouted Gai as he plopped himself on the desk between the two horrified girls. "Are you not excited about our team?"

Riko leaned back in her chair, trying to keep the distance between her and the loud boy in front of her. "Uhh…" was all she could muster.

Gai gave a chuckle. "I knew it! So excited you can barely speak." Gai threw an arm around the girl's shoulder. "Don't worry Riko-chan. With me on your team, you'll never lose!" He gave her a toothy grin and a thumbs up. Riko was overwhelmed by his enthusiasm.

"Hey Gai! Maybe you should lay off the girl a little bit. Don't want you getting a harassment charge on the first day."

Gai turned his attention to the Hyuuga at the back of the room that was resting his head on one of his hands propped on the desk. A subtle smirk graced his handsome features. Gai leapt from his spot between the girls and rushed back to Koji's desk. "And I'm excited to work with you also! The Hyuuga family is very powerful. I look forward to being able to challenge myself against you!" He gave the boy a thumbs up.

Koji paled slightly. "You're too animated." He said.

Just then, the classroom door slid open and the last pair of Jonin walked in.

"Yo." Minato waved as Misaki walked in behind him. "I'm looking for team 7?"

With that, Rin gave one last look to her friend Riko. Unsure what else to say, Riko gave her friend a thumbs up.

"Oh! Riko, you are also a fan of the nice-guy pose?"

Riko paled again. She suddenly regretted the use of her thumb.

"I thought it was only something my father used, but apparently it is a more popular pose than I thought." He hopped into the seat that Rin had recently vacated. "But, you have to remember the most important part." Gai chide. He suddenly gave his gleaming smile. "The pose is not complete without the nice-guy smile!" Riko leaned back in her chair, attempting to make space between them. His teeth were shining so brightly she could have sworn she heard them ping. "That…that's a little too much for me." She said.

Misaki sighed and looked over a Minato. "I should have stolen your folder." She groaned. Minato gave her a nervous smile. "Think positive Misaki-chan." He said and looked down at the two students in front of him. "Alright," He said. "Where is our last teammate?" He asked.

The sound of the chair sliding back and footsteps drew his attention as Kakashi walked up to the front of the class. He gave a curt wave.

Misaki felt the breath catch in her throat. He was the spitting image of his father. She couldn't help but feel a sick lurch in her stomach from looking at him as memories starting to flood back into her mind. Kakashi looked up at the strawberry blonde-haired woman for a brief moment, curious why she was giving him such as strange look, but then returned his attention back to his new teacher.

"Alright you three, lets go meet in the classroom across the hall, so your other teammates can have this room." He turned and gave a quick wave to Misaki before leading his team away.

With that, team seven filed out the door closing it behind them.

Misaki turned her attention back to the students in front of her. She was having a really hard time believing this was her assignment. However, she was a good ninja and a good ninja knows how to follow orders and deal with the oddest of situations. She stepped back and took a seat on top of the teacher's desk.

"So you are my team nine, eh?" She asked. The students were now focused on her. "Nice to meet you, but perhaps we should have a formal introduction. Let's start by all coming to the front of the class shall we?"

With that, Koji stood up and walked down to the front desks. Koji picked up a chair from another row on the way and sat it in the middle of the isle on the other side of Riko, avoiding the seat next to Gai. Gai frowned slightly feeling a little insulted but decided it was important to make a good first impression on his teacher and quietly waited for her to speak.

"That's better." Misaki smiled. "So, let's start by all introducing ourselves." She turned her attention to Riko. "Let's start with you. Tell us your name, your interests, hobbies, dreams…general things like that."

Riko felt her nerves tingle. A Jonin had never addressed her in such an informal manner. "My name is Kienso Riko. I come from a family of weapons experts. I like…um…well, lots of things…my hobbies are…um…well…."

"Just pick something my dear." said Misaki, surprised at how long it was taking the girl to decide.

"It's so hard; there are so many things I like. I guess I enjoy swimming a lot-"

Gai leaned forward. "Oh, Riko! I enjoy swimming too! We have so much in common!" Koji reached over and conked Gai on the head. "Shut up idiot! It's not your turn."

Misaki gave a sigh. The boys were off to a bad start already. "How about you?" She said addressing Koji.

"My name is Hyuuga Koji. You already know my clan. I like going to tea shops and people who are quiet and have normal haircuts." He said, giving a smirk in the direction of Gai. Riko stifled a laugh.

Gai frowned. "Hmmm, it appears that we do not have anything in common yet." He scratched his chin in thought and then swatted the desk. "But don't worry; there is plenty of time to get to know one another. There must be lots of things we have in common!"

"Unlikely." Koji muttered.

Misaki was almost afraid to ask. "And how about you?" now turning her head towards her most unusual student.

Gai looked up with excitement in his eyes. "My name is Maito Gai! I enjoy swimming, training, running to school and spicy foods. I particularly like curries. Really spicy curries, the ones with the…"

Misaki put her hands up in defense. "I see, I see, very interesting." She feared that if she did not cut him off soon, they would be there all night.

Riko tilted her head to the side. "How about you sensei? You haven't said anything about yourself."

Misaki pointed at herself. "Who me? My name is Kurakumo Misaki. I am known as Konoha's Electric Leaf. I have a few hobbies. I am a big fan of Renju, hiking and I—"

Misaki suddenly noticed Gai's hand high in the air. Curious as always she addressed him. "Yes Gai?"

"Misaki-sensei? When do we get our titles?"

Misaki looked at him confused. "Your titles?" She asked.

"Yes. You said you are Konoha's Electric Leaf. That is such a super cool title. I would like one as well." The excitement was beaming in his eyes.

Misaki laughed. "Well, Gai. It is not a title that I was just given. It is a name I have earned based on my experiences as a ninja."

Gai looked disappointed. "I see."

Misaki walked over and put a hand on his arm. "But I'm sure if you work hard at becoming a good ninja, you can also earn a 'super cool title'."

Gai looked up at his teacher. She was so cool! He really had lucked out with his team. "Yosh!" He said giving a fist pump. "In that case, I will work double hard so I can get my nickname twice as fast!"

"I have one for you already." Koji smirked. "Fuzzy eyebrows."

Gai frowned at Koji. "Oh yeah…well…your…your…no eyes!" Gai attempted to taunt back.

"What?"

"That's right. You have no eyes. They are just white. It's really creepy!" He said waving his fingers to emphasize how gross he found them.

Koji was annoyed. "How dare you! It is a trait of my clan. The source of a Byakugan..."

"It's still creepy."

"You're creepy."

"No YOUR creepy!"

"I'm surrounded by idiots." Groaned Riko, hitting her head to the desk.

Misaki, attempted to keep her smile in check, separating the two boys. "Hey, hey. This is no way to behave as teammates. Now stop it so I can give you your first assignment."

This seemed to get Gai's full attention. He turned back to his teacher with bright eyes. "A mission already? Alright!"

Misaki was glad she at least knew how to get his attention now. "Yes, I need you all to go home and prepare. Tomorrow will be a busy day. Bring everything you normally would for training purposes. We will meet at the D training fields at 6AM tomorrow morning."

Misaki turned and started to head to the door. She could hear the moans of her students at the idea of having to get up so early and couldn't help but smile. "Hey, hey. No complaining." She was about to leave and then realized she had forgotten the most important rule. "Oh yes, I almost forgot. Don't eat breakfast tomorrow." She cautioned.

Gai looked at her confused. "But sensei, breakfast is an important part of starting the day!" She gave him a nod. "Yes it is true. But with what you are about to go through, you would probably just throw it back up."

She could hear her students gulp with fear. The scene was set, and with that, she disappeared out the door.

The students sat in silence for a while. "Throw up out breakfast? That doesn't sound good." Riko said, nervously playing with the kunai in her hand.

Koji remained calm as always. "I'm sure it is nothing we cannot endure. If we focus on what we have been taught, I do not see why we cannot handle whatever task it might be. Others have made it through this process."

Suddenly Gai was on top of the desk in front of them in a rather exotic pose. "That's right team! With hard work, nothing can stop us. Go team nine! Go team nine! Go…."

Koji looked up at the display on the desk as Gai continued to chant. "Though our teammate will take a whole new level of endurance." He mused. Riko hit her head to the desk again in agreement.

That night, Gai hastily worked away at his training pack. It had to be perfect. Just enough supplies to help him with his tasks, but not so much as to weigh him down. He stepped back from the pack and examined it. "Hmmmm."

The pack was literally bursting at the seams and taking up nearly half his bed. "Perhaps this is too much." He shrugged his shoulders. "Guess I'll have to start all over again." He began to unpack the bag and then looked over at his newly purchased alarm clock. The numbers blinked back 2AM.

"Hiya! Only a few hours before I have to be at the training fields. I best get some sleep, or I will fall behind my teammates tomorrow." With that, he tossed the bag on the floor. "I'll deal with you later." He told the bag. Gai quickly crawled into bed and turned off the light. He stared up at the roof. He was so excited about tomorrow. He frowned. How on earth was he supposed to get to sleep with how excited he was? He attempted counting sheep, but that only lead to him imagining racing them in the fields. He attempted to think about how boring his academy classes were, but that only made him think about how he would never have to go back now that he was a Genin.

"This sucks!" He cried, pulling the pillow over his head.

6AM, Riko slowly lulled herself towards the training grounds. She could feel her stomach growling at her as she walked. She had kept her word and not eaten anything, but she could not help but think of all the wonderful things she could have been eating right then. She eventually reached the training grounds to find Koji already seated in the grass.

"Good morning Koji-san." She said, taking a seat next to him in the grass.

"Hello Riko-san." He replied. His stomach suddenly lurched in his gut, giving off a loud growl.

"So you managed not to eat this morning either huh?" to which Koji only frowned. The two sat in silence, enjoying the smell of the morning air and the peacefulness of it all. Riko was nearly drifting back into a light sleep when a loud noise made her practically jump out of her skin.

"GOOD MORNING TEAMMATES!" Gai cried, leaping out from behind them.

Koji and Riko felt like they'd had an aneurism. "YOU'RE TOO LOUD FOR THIS EARLY IN THE MORNING!" They shouted back at him.

Gai ignored their comment and took in a deep breath. "So where is sensei? What is the mission? Are we fighting rogues, saving civilians?"

"She isn't even here yet." Growled Riko. "Now would you sit down? You're giving me a heart attack!"

Gai turned back with big eyes. "I am happy I am able to make your heart race Riko-chan!"

Riko's eye twitched. "It's not that kind of heart attack!"

Suddenly there was a rustle from the trees behind them and Misaki walked up to the group. "Good morning everyone!" She smiled, looking as though she had gotten a full night's sleep and was ready to take on the day. In all actuality, she hated the morning and was quite tired, but she had to make it appear otherwise for her students.

"I trust you all didn't eat breakfast this morning?"

They all nodded and Gai piped in. "I took it one step further Misaki-sensei. I did not eat dinner either!"

Misaki paled. "That was not necessary." She said. Now she would have to keep a closer eye on him to make sure he didn't pass out.

She turned her attention back to all of them. "Today will be another test. In order to make sure you are the right material to become ninja, you must pass this test before you can start doing missions."

"But Misaki-sensei, was graduating not enough of a test?" Riko asked.

Misaki shook her head. "The academy only proves you are smart enough to be a ninja, not necessarily in the right state of mind to be a ninja." She paused for a moment and looked over her students. "But before we start the test, there is something I would like you to do for me." She pointed to their forehead protectors. "Take those off."

The three looked at each other with confused looks. "Come on. Take them off." The students slowly removed them from their heads and waited. "Good, now, tie them on yourself somewhere other than your forehead."

The three looked at one another then back at their teacher. "Why would you have us do that sensei?" Koji asked.

"Just do as I ask and I will teach the lesson later." With that, they tied them in various spots on their body. Riko tied the protector on her upper right arm, Koji tied it loosely around his neck and Gai tied it around his waist.

"Alright, now out of curiosity, why did you tie them where you did?"

"Because you said we could not put them on our forehead." Gai replied as if the answer was obvious. Misaki sighed.

"Okay, but why did you pick the body part you did and not somewhere else?"

Koji was the first to reply. "The purpose of this protector is to protect, to I chose another place that was likely vulnerable." He said pointing to his neck.

"And they are also meant to identify your village, so I chose a place that would not get in the way but was still visible." Riko added, pointing to her arm.

"And I chose my waist because that is where sensei has hers and clearly there is some secret expert ninja reason for doing so!"

There was an awkward pause. "You are such an idiot fuzzy eyebrows." Koji sighed.

Misaki cut in before a fight could break out. "You all have very interesting answers. And your choices will impact your mission today." With that, she pulled out a set of bells and a small clock. She placed the clock on top of a tree stump. "I am setting the clock to noon. That is how long I am giving you." She held up the bells. "Your mission is to get these bells from me. There are only two so one of you will ultimately not get one. That person will not get lunch and the others will eat in front of him. Not only that, but that person will also fail and return to the academy. Got it?"

"So that's why she didn't want us to eat lunch. What a dirty trick!" Riko frowned.

"Oh, there is one more thing. You have each chosen to tie your head protector in a different place. If I manage to take it from you, you will also fail and return to the academy, so be careful how you come at me." She walked up toward them and leaned in with a smile. "Use any methods, means or weapons you like. If you don't come at me with the intent to kill, you will not succeed." She walked back over to the clock. "Any questions?"

Gai frowned. "Misaki sensei? How is this fair? The way our protectors are tied are completely different, some are much more vulnerable than others." He then pointed to her waist where she had attached the bells. "Also, there are only two bells. I thought as graduates that we were now ninja. Why must one of us go back to the academy?"

Misaki smiled. "Those are all excellent questions Gai!"

Gai smiled at the praise. Misaki's smile then disappeared and she slammed her hand down on the timer. "Begin."

Taken aback for a second, the students were unsure what to do. Once reality set back in, the three quickly dashed off into the bushes to hide.

Misaki smiled and walked out into the field. "Let's see what you three can do." She mused, patting the bells on her hip.

END

Sorry to cut it off right when it starts to get interesting. But I'm just that evil. Will try to update again soon! Reviews are welcome as always.


	3. Chapter 3 The Test

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto…he and all his friends belong to Kishimoto

The History of Konoha's Noble Green Beast

Chapter 3 THE TEST

Misaki scanned the field around her. They had all managed to hide themselves quite well. Things were off to a good start. It was only a matter of time before they would attempt to attack her. She wondered if this team would be able to realize the true meaning of the test. The boys were not getting along as well as she would have hoped and that was likely going to make it harder for them to recognize what needed to be done. She continued to stand patiently, unsure of what else to do. She had never actually used this test before but Minato had recommended it as a good way to assess the students overall abilities. She had of course taken the liberty of modifying it for her own needs though. After a long pause she, realized it might actually take a while for anyone to strike. She yawned and gave a big stretch over her head. "Well…might as well entertain myself." She mused as she casually reached into her pocket.

From each of their hiding places, the students tensed, unsure what to expect from their teacher's actions. This whole situation was a little bizarre to them and there was no telling what their sensei was capable of. Misaki carefully pulled a long thin wire from her pocket.

Was she going to set a trap? Koji wondered, eying her up at a distance. It would be odd for her to pull out the materials of a trap directly in the open where they could all see her doing it.

Misaki tensed the wire, wrapping it around her fingers to hold it in place. The metallic string shone in the light of the morning sun as she flexed it gently. She then proceeded to thread some metal beads onto the string, humming as she did so.

She's making a necklace! They all realized. She doesn't take us seriously at all!

This made Koji's blood boil. It was a clear insult towards his skills. He kept his position behind the tree.

The bell test today had been a surprise, but he knew he was ready. He had worked hard up until this point and he was not about to fail. There was no way he was going back to that awful academy. He felt the excitement building up in his chest, egging him to go and strike now. He resisted with all the patience he had, knowing better than to just lash out like a child. Any sudden attacks would be foolish. She may have been working away at the necklace but that did not mean she wouldn't be ready for an attack. If anything, it could have been a setup to lure him out and he was not about to go and risk losing his forehead protector so early on.

Riko sat poised under a bush a few yards away, waiting patiently and trying to determine the best mode of attack.

Kunai? No too predictable.

Shuriken? Her reflexes were likely too good for that.

Short Saber? That would require getting too close and she would likely to lose her forehead protector.

Riko softly growled and scratched her head in frustration. How was it even fair having to take on someone as powerful as a Jonin?

"Riko-chan, you chose a good hiding spot!"

Riko's eyes got big. "You dolt, you're going to give away my location!" She hissed at the bowl haired boy as he snuggled down beside her under the bush.

"Don't worry Riko-chan. Despite my enthusiasm and energy, I can be quite stealthy. There is no way Misaki-sensei heard me."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." Came a female voice from behind them.

Riko and Gai felt their blood run cold. They quickly flipped over the see their teacher smiling at them from behind the bush. "Yo." She said giving a curt wave. The students both cried out in shock. Misaki leaned forward, making a grab at their forehead protectors.

"Crap!" Riko hissed and rolled out of the way, as Gai rolled in the opposite direction. There was no choice now. She would have to take on the teacher. She tried quickly to think of a solution. Kunai, blade, shuriken, needles…

"Stopping to think will only get you killed!" Shouted Misaki as she sprinted in the direction of the young girl. Riko's eyes widened in horror, realizing she had wasted too much time trying to come up with a plan and was now at the mercy of her sensei. Quickly taking a defensive stance, she closed her eyes and braced for impact only to find that nothing came, though she heard the distinct sound of kunai whizzing by in front of her and hitting the ground.

Riko, now aware of the lack of contact, slowly opened her eyes and looked over in the direction she had heard the weapons come from. Koji was perched in a nearby tree poised with another set of kunai. His face held a look of confusion. Riko returned her attention to in front of her expecting to find her sensei, but she had disappeared without a trace.

"Run dammit!" Koji shouted, taking off into another tree. Riko did not think twice and took off after Koji, hoping that by following him, she might be able to figure out what was going on.

Gai, now alone, stood up, brushed himself off, and poised himself, ready to take on his teacher. Where is she? Left? Right? Up? Down? He twitched like a nervous cat, ready to take on whatever was coming at him. "Keep cool Gai…icy cool." He repeated to himself like a mantra. After realizing that there was no threat, he decided it was probably best to go find his teammates, though he would have to be stealthier this time. Riko was liable to start hating him if he gave away her location again. He would show her…and the Hyuuga just what he was capable of.

Riko pressed on after her teammate. "Koji, wait!" She shouted. The young ninja looked back and paused briefly to allow her to catch up. "Thank you back there." She said, continuing at his pace.

Koji gave a small shrug. "If you get eliminated, that's one less person to keep Misaki distracted while I try to take the bells."

"That's one of the reasons I followed you. Don't you think it's odd that there are only two bells and three of us?"

"Survival of the fittest I suppose."

"No, that seems too simple for a ninja training lesson. There has to be something else."

"You think too much."

"A ninja must think in order to make the best decision!"

"Your decision making nearly got you trampled by our new sensei." He snapped back.

Riko furrowed her eyebrows. "This is the second reason I followed you. I shut my eyes, but when I looked up, you seemed concerned. Did something happen?"

Koji remained quiet for a moment trying to figure out the best way to describe what he had seen. "I'm not sure. It was odd. I aimed with the intent of hitting Misaki-sensei, yet my kunai went right through her, and she just…disappeared."

"So? That was probably just a body flicker." Riko replied. Any rookie ninja fresh out of the academy should be able to recognize a body flicker.

Koji shook his head. "No, it was something else. Something I have never seen before. There was a…strange light." He said, unsure how else to describe it.

Riko had no idea what he could be talking about. "Well, it might be some advanced jutsu we were never taught. She is obviously much stronger than we are. Maybe we should work together to get closer to Misaki." Riko suggested.

Koji gave a snort. "No offence Riko, with that display you just gave earlier, I doubt working together would be to my advantage."

Riko frowned. "That's so rude!"

Koji shrugged again. "Face it Riko, if you don't learn how to handle things faster, it's going to be you instead of fuzzy eyebrows that gets sent back to the academy." Koji was about to put distance between them when he felt the air change.

The two ninjas paused as they felt a strange presence surrounding them. Taking a guarded stance, they readied themselves for what ever might be coming. Riko could feel her heart beat thundering in her chest. Koji attempted to remain calm, yet his nerves were jumping wildly, making it more difficult to hold his position steady. They waited for what seemed like an eternity, yet nothing came. The two were about to continue when there was a rustling from one of the bushes. They put up their guard again, but quickly relaxed when they realized it was only Gai.

"Gai, what are you doing! You're going to give our location away again!" Riko hissed.

Gai remained silent. His head was down and he was holding something in his hands.

"Gai? What's wrong Gai?" Riko asked. She took a step forward out of concern. She had never seen Gai so quiet or solemn. It was bizarre. As she approached, Koji's hand shot out in front of her in a protective manner, stopping her from getting any closer.

"Gai…what is that?" Koji asked, pointing to the thing in his hand. It was hard to make out with the shadows of the trees.

Gai held up the object in his hand and lifted his head. His eyes were darkened from the shadow of his forehead protector, giving a creepy appearance to his face. His face was plastered with a sadistic grin, nearly spreading from ear to ear. "Sensei was too slow for me." He chide, holding up his prize.

Riko let out a horrific scream, and stepped back. "No! No! Gai, you wouldn't have! You went too far!" Riko was horrified. She had never seen anything more gruesome in her life. There, gripped in the fingers of her teammate, she could see the strawberry blonde hair, matted with blood. He had killed their sensei! Gai swayed the head in his hands back and forth as if her were playing with a toy and let out a soft cackle. "See Riko-chan? I told you we wouldn't lose."

Riko backed up, to get away from her deranged teammate. This couldn't be real, it was just too horrible. She continued to back up like a rat attempting to escape from a hungry predator. As she took another step back, the ground suddenly became very soft under her foot and then let go completely. The world disappeared around her as she plummeted into darkness. With a loud thud, Riko hit the bottom of the pit, landing hard on her arm. She rubbed a scratch on her face and reoriented herself. In her distracted state, she had managed to fall into a trap. As she sat at the bottom of the hole, it dawned on her. Gai's forehead protector…it had been back on his head!

"An illusion!" She hissed, kicking herself for not noticing the detail earlier. She held her hands together briefly. "Release." She whispered, and with that, the cackling of her teammate disappeared. She could not believe she had fallen for such a cheap trick! Riko looked back up at the hole. "Koji-san. Help me out of here!" She cried. She thought for a second she saw his shadow go by, but no one came. She had been abandoned by her own teammate.

Misaki held her spot up on a tree branch, watching the display. "Hmmm, perhaps the whole beheading thing was a bit much..." She mused to herself, scratching the side of her head out of guilt. She sometimes forgot how numb she was to the idea of gore from being exposed to it for so long. These kids were certainly going to have to get used to it, but a beheading was probably a bit of a rough start.

Koji took off into the trees. He had been sickened by what he saw, but after watching Riko fall into the trap, he realized it had been a trick and had broken the illusion himself. He had heard his teammate's cry for help, but decided it was more important to focus on the task at hand. He had to get that bell and he had already wasted a lot of time. He refused to go back to the academy. His family would never let him live it down if he failed now.

Riko attempted to climb up the walls, but they had been intentionally softened to prevent her from climbing back up. She reached into one of her hip pouches and drew out a small blade. With a flick of her wrist it snapped open into a longer blade. She attempted to dig the weapon into the walls, hoping there would be more resistance deeper, yet found it cut through the earth like warm butter. Now she was really kicking herself. As one of the top students at the academy, she had really expected more from herself. Many had admired her abilities in the classroom yet here she was, fooled by a basic ninja trap. She punched at the wall and felt the hot salty tears of frustration and the pain from her arm starting to throb. "I can't be such a failure."

"You're not a failure Riko-chan." Came a voice from the top of the hole. "Remember, I said with me on your team, you will never lose, so you can't be a loser!"

She looked up out of the hole, wiping her tears away with a smile. "Gai!" She cried.

He gave her a toothy grin and a thumbs up. Alight! Now was his chance to impress the girl of his dreams! "Just a second Riko-chan, I have to find something to lower down to you."

He disappeared for a brief second and quickly returned. "Here, take hold of this." Gai lowered down part of a broken branch for her to grab on to. Riko took a hold and pulled herself up out of the hole. She gave Gai a quick smile and was about to say thank you when Misaki appeared from the shadows.

"Are you children not taking me seriously?" She asked, raising an amused eyebrow. "None of you have even made an attempt for the bells yet." She walked up toward the young students. "Looks like I'll have to come at you instead to show you how serious this really is." Misaki cooed as she made a move towards Gai, who quickly dodged out of the way. Riko flipped backward on her good hand and took a guarded stance half behind a tree. Gai was now poised and ready for action. The excitement was all too much for him. "Bring it on sensei! You cannot defeat me!" He preformed a couple of example moves, hoping that would demonstrate his strength, though it seemed to have no effect on the Jonin. He roughly pointed at his chest with his thumb. "Don't worry Riko, I shall take her on for you!" With that, Gai dashed towards his teacher.

"Gai, don't. That's foolish!" Riko shouted. This was going to end terribly.

Misaki's eyes were wide with shock. It was not that she feared him. She was just surprised he would attack her directly. Gai got within striking distance and took his first swing. As he was about to make contact, he could hear a strange crackling sound. He noticed the seal Misaki was making with her hands. "denkou steppu!" She shouted and in a flash, his teacher's body was gone, in an erratic display of light.

Gai, felt his hand pass through the space his teacher had been. Strange tingles of static danced on the edges of his hand as he passed through the air.

"Showing off only gets you killed." A sultry voice came from behind his ear. Gai turned his head slightly to find that his teacher had already managed to move behind him. She was so fast! What was that technique? He didn't even have time to think as the weight that had been around his waist disappeared.

"No!" He cried. His teacher stood back holding his makeshift belt.

"You didn't take me seriously. Caution is important in a ninja, especially when life or death is on the line." She squeezed the protector in her hand. "Careless actions like that will only make you another statistic for the Hokoge's office paper trail-"

Misaki paused when she noticed how much more her dress was flowing in the breeze. She looked down in horror to find her protector was missing then quickly snapped her head back up to see Gai clutching her belt with a big grin on his face.

"You little-" She growled in disbelief. She'd been stripped by a rookie!

Gai laughed obnoxiously. "Mwa Ha Ha! With my super awesome punch, I distracted you from my other super sneaky hand! The elite super fast ultimate fantastic Maito Gai has succeeded! I win! I win! I win!"

Riko stared on in awe. Amazing. He had actually managed to fool a Jonin!

Misaki shook her head. "I can't believe you managed to-" and that's when she noticed.

Gai was beaming now. At last, people would see his greatness. "You never know what to expect from Maito Gai. Mwa ha ha!" He turned his attention to Riko. "Don't worry Riko-chan. I will gladly give you one of the bells."

"Ah hem." Misaki interrupted. "What bells?"

Gai looked down in horror to see that the belt he had taken was actually bell-free. "What?"

Misaki patted her hip. "Did you even bother to pay attention to where I attached the bells?" pointing to the small pin on her dress that the bell jangled from.

Riko sighed. So he wasn't so amazing after all.

Gai felt the world sink from under his feet. "Don't get me wrong Gai. I am impressed you took my belt, but your methods were foolish. Had I been taking you seriously, you'd be dead right now."

Gai took a big gulp. The look his sensei was giving him was scary. "Now I believe the rules stated if you lost your protector, you failed. Which, I guess means I'll be sending you back to the academy." Gai couldn't have felt any worse. He dropped to his knees in defeat. After all he had done…it was over? "But…but…I took your belt! I still have a protector! I should still be able to try!"

Misaki gave a sigh. "Taking my protector was never part of your instructions now was it? You were to get the bells, by any means while protecting this." She held up the fabric in her hand. "Had you thought it through a bit more and paid attention MAYBE you would have noticed how I attached the bells to my outfit. Instead, you lashed out like an idiot to impress Riko here and ended up losing your protector. That was not just a rookie mistake Gai, that was just plain stupid. You had no plan going in there. I'm starting to think your grab for my belt was dumb luck."

Gai did not reply. What she said was true. He really hadn't come up with a plan when he attacked her. The grab had been a last minute thought in mid run.

She then turned her attention back to Riko. "However, before I tend to you any further…" She smiled dashing towards the terrified student. Riko felt as if her heart was about to run right out of her chest. She did the only thing she could think of, rushing through a couple of seals with her hands while she concentrated on forming the necessary chakra for her desperate move. Misaki felt her fingers grace the protector on Riko's arm but as she touched it, she noticed how soft it had become. Within an instant, Riko disappeared into a puff of petals.

"Flower Petal Escape?" Misaki said stunned in her place. That seemed too advanced for a young girl like Riko. Here she had thought the girl was just some rookie with a bad case of the freeze-ups. It made her a little happy to know, the girl was not completely useless. Misaki turned back to Gai, who was now sobbing on the ground. She felt a little bad for him as she approached, but she also knew that his actions had been terribly foolish. It was as if he had no clear understanding of rank or skill level. There was no way she could just let his actions slip. "Rules are the rules Gai. You should have thought your actions through more carefully," She said.

Gai was furious at himself. Now he would have to return to the academy, the academy he had been working tooth and nail to pull himself through. He looked up at the teacher in front of him, who showed no signs of sympathy.

_Keep it in check you wimp!_ He chastised himself.

He then felt his sensei pick him up by the arm and carry him off. What was happening? "I'd best tie you to that pole before dealing with the others." She said.

How humiliating, he thought.

Riko leaned up against a tree. Exhausted, but still safe. She checked her arm to make sure the protector was still tied firmly in place. She had barely made her escape. This task seemed impossible to her. Gai was already eliminated and she could not help but feel it was her fault. If she had not fallen in that hole, he would not have been slowed down. Was that what she was? Just slowing people down? The first day and she was already showing little promise as a ninja.

She gave a look around. There was no sign of Koji, Gai or Misaki. There also wasn't a lot of time left. She would have to make her move now. Ideally, she would find Koji first, not that he seemed interested in listening to her. There was no way she could take on sensei on her own though. The last experience with Gai had proven that. Riko headed back to the open portion of field where they had started, hoping to come across her other teammate. As she approached, she realized that there were two chakra signatures in front of her. She cautiously approached the field and looked out. Koji, was already in the process of taking on Misaki-sensei alone. Looks like her plan was out the window.

"Byakugan!" He shouted. His eyes taking on the veined appearance akin to his clan. Misaki put a hand on her hip. "It's impressive that you can use your eye technique so easily, but really Koji? You are going to take me on directly as well?"

Koji poised himself. "There are only a few minutes left. I must try what I can." With that, he drove in towards Misaki, drawing three shuriken out of his pocket and throwing them in her direction. Misaki was impressed at his speed, but being far faster, she easily leapt up above the shuriken. Looking down at her attacker, she saw the young boy was hot on her trail poised to kick. She quickly blocked the kick with her left hand and grabbed him by his right wrist, pulling him up and over her, and then roughly tugging his arm back down. She made a grab for his forehead protector but Koji managed to bend his body out of reach before she could make contact. Unfortunately, he did not have time to correct himself in the air before being driven back into the earth with a loud bang. Misaki landed gracefully back behind him and gave a smirk. "You have to be joking if you thought that would work."

Koji was now irritated and leapt back up. He had no other plan, and only a few minutes left. It was desperate and stupid, but he had to try. He dropped down and swept his foot in front of him trying to take out Misaki's legs. She quickly slid back into the defensive stance out of his reach. Misaki was just too fast for him. He made another drive for her. This time, palms open ready to strike. Misaki turned on her heel and slid out of the way. There was no way she was going to let him cut off her chakra points. She had had the pleasure of being hit with the eight trigrams palm techniques before, and had not particularly enjoyed it back then. "You are not taking me ser-"

That's when she saw the flash of blonde whip past her. She looked down to see the young girl sprinting in her direction. Misaki's eyes widened in shock. Were they really working together? Riko managed to reach out and touch the bells on her waist. Just as she nearly got her grasp around them, the alarm from the clock gave a shrill ring and Misaki disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving a panting Koji and stunned Riko in the middle of the field.

"By the might of the Hokoge, I almost thought you had it figured out there." Misaki said, walking out of the bushes. "But it just turns out you are perceptive about openings, Riko."

Without another word, Misaki walked off towards the wooden posts in the middle of the grounds, waving behind her to indicate for them to follow. As they reached the posts, the two young ninjas noticed their teammate tied in place.

"Untie me! This is embarrassing!" Gai cried, struggling against the binds. "How am I supposed to look cool tied up like a roasting pig?"

Misaki walked over and leaned into Gai's personal space. "You were told the rules at the beginning. Anyone who fails gets tied to the post." She held out his armband. "Since I'm holding onto this, it means you lost. So deal with it!"

Riko and Koji shared a quick glance at one another then took a seat, each leaning against one of the other two posts. Misaki sat crossed legged on the grass in front of them.

"Well, that was an interesting task, wouldn't you say?"

The ninjas nodded, though it lacked enthusiasm.

"Well let me just say that you all really surprised me." She smiled.

The young ninjas were shocked. Had they really impressed her? "Alright, score one for us!" Gai shouted.

"At first I thought maybe the test was flawed, but I think it's pretty obvious now that you three are just terrible ninjas."

The students frowned at this comment. Misaki's smile faded and she stood up and began to pace.

"You didn't manage to get the bells; some of you didn't even manage to keep your forehead protector and worst of all: you didn't understand any of the meanings behind this test!"

"That was what I was asking you about before!" Shouted Gai. "But you wouldn't answer my questions!"

Misaki turned back to them with a glare. The look made all three students quake a little. "A ninja must be able to look underneath for the hidden meaning in a test." She scratched her head in frustration. "Sadly, the only one of you who managed to get it also fell for a very simple trap and as a result couldn't fully share it with you." Misaki turned back to Riko. "Isn't that right?"

Riko looked stunned. "Sensei?"

Now Misaki was really annoyed. The girl really had no clue what she was talking about. "Teamwork! You are the only one who really made an attempt at it and YOU," now pointing at Koji. "Not only ignored her suggestion, but downright abandoned your teammate when she needed you!"

"But Sensei, the purpose of this test was the get the bells. The time limit prevented me from helping her."

"No excuses!" She snapped. "I can't stand people like you that would just leave their comrades in such a state. Stop treating people like burdens and treat them as they are…your allies! Teamwork is of the utmost importance. Why do you think we put you into teams to begin with huh?"

There was silence amongst the group. Gai suddenly perked up. "But Sensei, I did teamwork. I helped Riko-chan out of the hole!"

Misaki nodded. "This is true. However, you also blatantly came at me with no sense or regard for your situation. If you do things in such an irrational manner all the time-" She tossed his forehead protector up into the air and tossed a kunai towards it, pinning it against a nearby tree. "You will end up dead, and of no use to anyone."

"But, ninja's die honorable deaths all the time!" Gai demanded.

"There is nothing honorable in running into a fight you know you can't win without a purpose behind it." Misaki hissed. "And don't think for a second, I'm praising your behavior Riko. You are the total opposite of Gai. You take too long to think. Had you depended on your instinct more and taken less time to analyze the situation, you may not have ended up where you did in the first place." Misaki sat back down. "A ninja must think through the mission, but you must also be able to make tough decisions fast in order to prevent major loss. You must balance the two skills."

Her head was now facing down at the grass, as if she was expecting it to grow her a new set of students. The frustrated look on her face was evident. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The response to the next question was liable to send her off the deep end. "So out of curiosity, did any of you figure out the last part of the test?"

There was silence.

Misaki pointed sharply at Gai's pinned forehead protector. "Why did I make you move those?"

Riko gave a sniffle and put her head down. She was so humiliated with just how terrible this was going. Her friends were going to laugh at her for what a screw-up she'd turned out to be. Riko murmured gently. "Weakness."

Misaki raised an eyebrow and looked at the young girl. "What?"

A teary-eyed Riko looked up at her, trying to hold back from breaking down into full fledged tears. "Weakness. The protectors represented our weakness. You made us move them to different spots because we are different people people, and we make different choices, so we have different weaknesses."

Misaki was stunned. "You actually figured that out?"

Gai gave a confused look. "What is she talking about different weaknesses? I thought the forehead protectors protected us!"

Koji scratched his chin. "I see. We are different, and because of that, we have different weaknesses. You wanted us to be aware of this weakness and find a way to prevent it from becoming our downfall."

Misaki was impressed and nodded vigorously. "Yes! Yes! So you're not total idiots!" She beamed with joy. "If there is one thing more important than teamwork, it's understanding your strengths and weaknesses. Not just your own though, the strengths and weaknesses of those you are working with as well. If you understand your strengths, you can use them to overcome your weaknesses, and if you understand your teammates weaknesses, you can find ways to use your strengths to help them. No ninja is without weaknesses, and being aware of them is important if you want to survive. Making a weakness into strength is a true skill of a ninja."

Gai was starting to catch on but then became annoyed. "But still, those weaknesses were unfair. Mine was much more exposed than the others!" He demanded, but quickly shut up as a kunai whizzed past the top of his head and hit the post. Aware of how close it had came to actually hitting him, he paled a little.

Misaki put her hand back down at her side. "And that is another lesson in itself." She said, turning her attention away from the boy. "Life is unfair. People die. Get used to it." She put a hand on her hip. "You think life is going to be easy as a ninja? You think you can just waltz in, pick a fight and expect to win? People die everyday, and the longer you're a ninja, the more likely those special people in your life are going to be the ones that die."

Misaki paused for a moment and reminisced about her own experiences as a ninja. The memories of her own losses brought her voice down to a calm tone. "This is not the life for someone that wants it easy. It is not all fun and games. Its real life and its real death. If you cannot embrace them both, then you are not cut out to be a ninja. I do not believe any of you are cut out for that." She heard the sounds of struggle behind her. Looking back, she could see Gai fighting against his ties.

"Wait Sensei! I can become a good ninja. No, I can become the best ninja." He shouted. "I'll show you. Do not send me back! I made a mistake but it will never happen again, I will do 1000 laps of the field as a promise. I can learn. I can work hard. I can fight! Look at what I managed to accomplish instead of what I failed to do! Let me show you what I can do! How can I prove to you that I can do it if you won't let me show you? Please!" He cried out in a whiny tone.

"Shut up you moron, you're just making us look worse." Koji growled from is position on the grass.

Misaki looked stunned at the lively display the boy was putting on. The determination was evident in his face. He was a fighter, and she liked that. There was no denying he had shown some promise. They each had in their own way despite their failures. Koji and Riko were staring at the lively display as well and then back at their teacher, unsure of what to say. Misaki scratched the top of her head and gave a sigh.

"Fine." She said, causing Gai to freeze in his tracks. His wining had actually worked?

"I will give you one more chance. But only because you are the first team to see the purpose of my forehead protector exercise." She walked over to the tree stump where the lunches were and brought them back to Riko and Koji. "Here, have lunch. We will do the exercise again after you eat. I will be much tougher on you this time though." She looked up at Gai. "And because of your belligerent attempt to attack me in such a foolish manner, you will go without food." She looked back at Koji and Riko. "Don't feed him under any circumstances. Break my rules and I very well may break you." The students gulped nervously as she disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Koji and Riko looked at one another then back at their meals. It felt so good to have some real food finally. Riko struggled to eat; it appeared that during the exercise, she had done a bit of damage to her good hand when falling into the trap. Half of what she ate ended up falling back into the tray. Koji picked away at his lunch, debating issues in his head. He finally set down the chopsticks and looked over at Riko. "Riko-san." He said calmly. The young girl looked up from her meal. "Yes?"

"I…um…that is I…" He looked off in the opposite direction. This was so embarrassing. "I'm sorry for leaving you in that trap."

Riko was stunned. He had actually apologized? She waved her hand furiously. "Oh, don't worry about that. It was my own fault for falling for such a stupid trick."

"Still." He cut her off. "Misaki-sensei was right. It is shameful to leave a comrade when there is still a chance to help them. It won't happen again."

Riko smiled. "And I'll try not to fall into anymore holes."

The two continued to eat, when they heard the loud growl of Gai's stomach. The boy looked pained. He had not eaten in nearly 24 hours. He noticed the concerned looks on his teammates faces and put on the best face he could. "Don't worry about me. I'm the unstoppable Maito Gai! Nothing is going to keep me-" GURGLEGARLGLEROLMPH. "…down"

Riko could not deny the guilt any longer. It was her fault he was on that post in the first place. She had needed his help and he had become vulnerable to the attack because of her. Looking around cautiously she held up her meal.

"Riko-chan?" Gai looked on confused by her actions.

"Please eat." She said, turning her face to hide the blush.

"Riko-san. Are you crazy! You want to go back to the academy that bad?" Koji hissed, shifting his eyes rapidly to make sure the teacher wasn't in sight.

"I don't care! It's my fault Gai is on this post anyways. If he doesn't eat, he will be of no help to us in our fight against Misaki-sensei." She turned to fully face Gai. "I don't want to be responsible for holding anyone back anymore. We are a team now, and we need to help each other."

"Riko-chan!" Gai whimpered as the tears poured down his face. "You're an angel!"

"Don't ever call me that again! And don't cry about it. It's just food." She snapped.

Koji thought it over. "I suppose you're right. Well hurry up then. We don't have much time, feed him."

Riko's eye twitched and she looked over at her companion. "What?"

"He's tied to the log; you'll have to feed him. Now do it quick!"

Riko paled. She could not believe what she was about to do. I am throwing away any hope of every getting another man ever again. She thought. "This...never leaves the field." She snapped, being sure to burn him with her stare to get the point across.

Gai's eyes were all starry. He could care less. Riko-chan was going to feed him! "Oh Riko-chan, I knew you cared!" He cried and promptly opened his mouth. Riko shuddered and reached into her lunch, picking up a small rice ball.

Snap.

The team looked on in horror at the sight of Riko's broken chopsticks. "Looks like my hands are still off from the accident earlier." She scratched her head. "You'll have to feed him Koji-san."

Koji twitched. "Like hell I am, you can just use my chopsticks."

"What if I break them again?"

"You're just using that as an excuse to get out of feeding him!" Koji fumed.

"Am not!"

"We don't have time for this."

"So feed him." She retorted.

"I'm a Hyuuga! I'm not going to feed that weirdo!" Koji reached in to his tray with his hand and tried to give her a rice ball. "Just feed him with your hand."

"Who cares about your family name? I'm injured!" She cried, putting her hands up and pushing the rice ball back towards him.

"My family name means everything. Feeding weird teammates is not on our list of things to do." He pushed the rice ball back at her.

"We are a team remember. So: SUCK IT UP!" She shoved it back in return.

"Someone feed me! I'm starving!" Gai cried loudly. "Feed me! Feed Me! Fee-"

"Shut-up!" Koji snapped and without thinking shoved the rice ball into Gai's mouth to muffle him. He sat back in horror for what he had just done.

Gai ate the food swiftly. "Ah! So good" He cried. Gai opened his mouth once more. "Do it again!"

Koji turned back to Riko who was now laughing. "I…I can't believe I just did that." He paled.

"Neither can I. Apparently rules are not your thing." Misaki said coming out from the trees. The aura around her was terrifying. "What am I going to do with you brats?"

The students cowered against the posts. Bracing for whatever might happen.

"You really are just a bunch of little punks aren't you?" She growled.

"But…but…sensei! You said this was about teamwork! How can we work as a team, if our teammate is passed out?" Riko demanded. "You heard him earlier; he hadn't eaten in nearly a day. We can't just let him pass out!"

"She's right! It would be no different than working apart as we were before!" Koji added.

"YES, YES, YES! It's not healthy for young boys to go without food for so long! They were just being kind!" Gai cried, struggling against his ties.

Misaki put her hands on her hips. "I see. In that case…."

The three sat quaking in fear.

"I guess…I'll have to pass you." She said scratching her head and giving them a big smile.

A long pause followed.

"You…pass." She repeated to the statues in front of her.

"How…how is that possible?" Riko asked. "All Koji did was feed him."

"I didn't feed him. I shut him up. Don't you dare go telling people that!" Koji snapped.

"True, you broke my rules, but you were thinking as a team." She added. "The ninja rules are important. They create a structure for our village, but every shinobi must understand that sometimes there are things far more important than the rule and that is our friends and those that are important to us. If we cannot work together, we fall apart alone. That is what it is to understand teamwork."

It was official. This teacher was the coolest person in the world. Gai thought, his eyes erupting into tears again.

"As of tomorrow, team nine will start missions. I hope everything you have learned from today shows in your performance tomorrow."

Koji smirked.

"Alright!" Riko shouted, giving a hug to Koji without much thought.

Gai was in tears. "Riko-chan? Can I have a hug too?"

Riko's eyes widened as she realized what she was doing. She quickly pushed away, averting her eyes from Koji that was now giving her an even bigger smirk. Before she could reply Koji cut in, "Come on now Gai, the girl has SOME sense of taste."

"Shut up you jerk!" Gai growled as he struggled with his ties. "Maito Guy: Konoha's Super Ninja will show you who has the better taste!"

Riko and Koji paused and looked at their teammate. "Stop trying to give yourself a title!" They yelled.

"He he he. Sorry." He said with a sheepish smile.

Misaki could not help but laugh. They were not her ideal pick in the beginning, but she could see starting to like them. If nothing else, they were certainly an interesting team.

"I already gave you a nick name: Fuzzy Eyebrows."

"That is such an uncool nick name!"

"An uncool nickname for an uncool guy!"

"I am not uncool!"

"Would you two idiots shut up? Sensei is going to change her mind about passing if you keep going on like that!"

"Sorry."

End of another chappie! I'm pretty surprised with how quick I'm managing to get these things out. Hopefully I can keep it up. :-) Reviews always welcome.

PS- anyone been reading the Manga? *sniffles*


	4. Chapter 4 Brotherly Love

The History of Konoha's Noble Green Beast

CHAPTER 4

"Another round sir!" Minato called out to the server at the BBQ. He glanced over at his green-eyed companion. "You sure you're still hungry?"

Misaki gave him a bright smile. "If you're paying, I could eat here all day!" She chimed.

Minato gave a sigh. "And another bottle of sake while you're at it." The server nodded and disappeared around the corner to collect their order. Minato glanced down at his wallet. He should have known better than to promise Misaki a meal. This girl was going to eat him into the poor house!

Misaki took another bite of grilled pork and smiled. "So good!" She half squealed in delight. "I'm glad you finally kept your promise. I was starting to think you had forgotten."

"I know. I know. I've just been so busy with the new team lately. I'm glad you're enjoying yourself though." Minato said, adding some extra slices of meat to the grill. "So tell me. How is your team doing?"

Misaki paused with the cup of sake near her lips and thought it over. "I'd say pretty well. The missions have been nothing spectacular, but they work well together…most of the time."

Minato raised a questioning eyebrow. "Most of the time?"

Misaki blushed a little. "Well…I mean. They have completed all of their missions, and they do well carrying them out, but sometimes…." She thought back to the other week.

"Alright team!" Misaki chimed. "Time for today's mission."

"What is it Misaki-sensei? Infiltration? Sabotage? A rescue mission?" Gai gave dramatic demonstrations of each activity as he spoke.

She responded with an uncomfortable smile. "No, nothing like that. Today you will be fixing up the orphanage." She pointed the run down three-story building ahead of them. To say the place was a disaster, would have been an understatement. The lawn was littered with toys and weeds. Vines were growing up the sides of the building, chocking the drainpipes as they went along. The wood siding looked chipped and in desperate need of repair. It was as if no one had bothered looking after the place in years.

"That hardly sounds like a ninja mission." Koji snorted.

"It is a ninja mission. A GENIN rank ninja mission and you will enjoy every single minute of it! Got it?" Misaki leaned forward so she was hovering over the young Hyuuga with an intense stare. He took a small step back from his sensei.

"Yes sensei." He replied, swallowing back his intimidation. Koji had yet to learn all of Misaki's abilities and if he pissed her off too much, he would likely learn all about them in a rather unpleasant personal manner. As he stepped back, a lanky arm wrapped itself around his shoulder.

"Don't worry Koji! We must see opportunity in everything that sensei gives us. Just think of all the skills you need to fix an orphanage."

"The skills of a construction worker, not a ninja." Koji snapped, knocking the boys arm away in disgust.

"We all must start somewhere Koji. Please stop whining." Misaki sighed, flipping through the mission papers for any other details.

She then turned her attention back to the orphanage. "It's not in the best shape, so there are a lot of tasks that need to be done. Gai, your first job is to clean out all the gutters on each level of the building. Koji, you will be repainting all of the windowsills and Riko, you take care of clearing the weeds out of the yard. Everyone understand?"

"Hai!"

"Alright. Begin!"

With that, the team scattered to their appointed duties. Misaki watched the students take off across the yard allowing herself to smile a little at how dedicated they were. Sure, they whined, but so did most kids their age. It never stopped them from getting the job done. Misaki was snapped out of her daze by a soft tap on the shoulder. She turned to find an older woman standing behind her.

"Oh, you must be the team of ninjas that we requested. Thank you so much for coming by today to take care of the orphanage. I'm the head caretaker Ayame." The old woman smiled.

Misaki returned her smile. "It is our pleasure Ayame-san. We'll have this place looking as good as new in no time." She turned back in the direction of the building. At least she was hoping they would be able to pull it off.

Riko found an empty bucket by the side of the building and dragged it out into the yard. She stared out at the space with a frown. There were more weeds than grass. "How is that even possible?" she whined to herself. After taking a moment to let it seep in, she tried to see the positive light. She looked up at the sky. "Well, at least it's nice weather today". She mused. "Could be worse."

Gai went to work pulling the dead leaves from the gutters. So far, it was a piece of cake. In fact, it was too easy and getting a little boring. Maybe Koji had a point. What was he going gain from pulling dead foliage out of pipes at an orphanage? He'd have to find a way to make this a worthwhile training exercise, or at least a little more interesting. Then he got an idea. He turned to his other teammate on the roof. "Koji?" He asked. The young Hyuuga paused and looked over at him with a blank expression on his face.

"Let's have a race!" Gai cheered pumping his first in front of him, eyes lit with excitement.

"What?" Koji gave him a quizzical look.

"A race! To see who can get their job done first."

"I don't see the benefit in doing that." He said, returning his attention back to painting.

"You have to do the job right, but you must also be quick. A test to see who is faster!" The young boy's eyes shone even brighter.

Koji continued working. "Stupid. Our tasks are completely different and besides, I see no point in comparing myself to you."

"Why is that?"

"I'm already better than you."

Gai frowned. "How do you even know? We've never competed."

Koji didn't return his teammate's gaze. "I graduated with a better ranking than you, I didn't get tied to the post during the test, and my clan is better recognized than yours…even Riko likes me better than you."

"Liar!"

"Who got a hug and who didn't, huh?" Koji smirked, catching a glimpse of his teammate's angry reflection in the window. He couldn't help it if he enjoyed pissing this kid off a little.

Gai felt his blood boiling. "I challenge you to a race! I'll prove you wrong!"

Koji sighed. Gai was so damn persistent on things. "As I said before, there is no point. Our tasks are completely different."

"Then we shall split them up. I'll take the north you take the south. We will do half of each other's job. First one done is the winner!"

"I have nothing to prove against you." Koji knitted his eyebrows in annoyance. Why wouldn't Gai just let it go?

"I'll show you! Or are you a scardey cat?"

Koji's eye twitched slightly. "What?" he asked and turned to face Gai.

_Ha! Got him!_ "That's right, you're a big chicken." Gai then started clucking and flapping his arms, strutting around the rooftop.

"It's been so long since we've had anyone come take care of this old building. I thought it was going to collapse from being in such disrepair!" Ayame said sweetly.

Misaki nodded, "Yes, I can see. But not to worry as I said, my team may be young, but they are professional ninjas." she assured the woman.

"Chicken! Bawk, Bawk Bawk."

Misaki turned in horror to see her student doing what could only be described as chicken theatre on the roof. Riko had also stopped what she was doing to look up at the display.

"I think you're one boy may have gone Mad." said the old woman.

"Would you excuse me?" She asked with a smile. The old woman gave her a gentle nod and without hesitation Misaki, dashed up onto the roof landing gently beside Gai. "Gai, what the hell are you doing?"

The young boy paused in mid flap, his face turning beat red with embarrassment. "Misaki-sensei. I was just…um."

She put up her hand. "You know what? I really don't want to know. Just…stop it. You look ridiculous. Acting like a chicken is never going to be an effective ninja tactic, got it?"

Gai nodded his head vigorously. "Hai, Misaki-sensei. No more chickens!" He gave his teacher a thumbs up and a toothy smile as a sign that his word was good.

"What am I going to do with you?" She sighed and hopped back off the roof. She'd better take the caretaker inside in case her students opted to embarrass her again. She walked over to the older woman. "Ayame-san? Might I trouble you for something to drink?"

The caretaker gave a curt nod and led Misaki into the building.

Gai waited until he heard the door click shut then turned back to his teammate. "So? Are you too afraid of losing to me?"

Koji snorted back a laugh and crossed his hands over his chest. "As if that would ever happen."

"Bacaw…" Gai replied softly, so his teacher wouldn't hear.

Koji glared back "If I do this, will you leave me alone?"

Gai nodded. "On my honor as a ninja! If I cannot defeat you I will do 500 push-ups on 1 hand with a 50 pound backpack on!"

"What? That's ridiculous. No one can do that."

"I never break a promise." Gai replied.

Koji sighed, "Fine, whatever." He handed his spare paintbrush over. "On the count of three we start. Ready?"

Gai crouched down like a cat ready to pounce. "Ready."

"One. Two. Three!"

The two took off across the house in a flash. Riko looked up from her work again. She had noticed the chicken performance before which had been a little bizarre, but she had decided to ignore it. When it came of Gai, she had learned there was really no point in questioning what he did, it would only confuse her more. This running around the building had her concerned though. She looked back at her bucket that was now full of weeds. She'd have to go drop them off in the compost pile by the building before she could continue. Her gut told her to stay away from the house while her two teammates were going at it, but she didn't want Misaki to come out and see her slacking. She gave a sigh, picked up the bucket of compost and began to walk towards the house. She'd just have to take her chances.

Gai and Koji flew across the rooftops, scrapping out the gutters and painting the window edges with precision. Gai felt the adrenaline kick in. This was his chance to show his cocky teammate once and for all he was a worthy adversary. He dashed from one windowsill to the next, being careful not to slosh the paint, but still keeping pace with the competition. There was no way he would lose to Koji.

Riko reached the compost pile by the front corner of the house. She emptied the bucket and turned to leave when suddenly, the front door flew open and two screaming children came running out. The young boy in the lead was no more than five and was being chased by another boy about the same age. The two were laughing and screaming as they bolted past Riko.

"I'm gonna get you!" Shouted the second little boy.

"No way! You're too slow!" Shouted the first boy. Not paying attention to his footing, the first boy didn't notice the ledge of the porch coming up and slipped over the step. With a hard thud he landed not so gracefully on the front lawn. A small whimper escaped his lips as he held onto his right shin tightly. His friend now had a look of horror on his face. "It wasn't me!" He demanded, looking at Riko in fear. This girl was a witness, and if she told the head caretaker, he would probably have to go without dinner for hurting his friend.

She gave him a small smile. "Don't worry. I know it was an accident." She set down the bucket of weeds and walked over to the young boy huddled on the ground. "Let me see where you're hurt." She said softly as the young boy continued to whimper.

"Almost done!" Gai cheered, heading towards the last windowsill. He took off around the corner, only to run right into Koji. They stood frozen for a second. "What are you doing? You're supposed to do the other side!" Gai demanded.

Koji glared. "This is the east-side of the house. We never divided the east and west sides."

"We'll I'm taking this side."

"Yeah, right. I was here first."

"So, what? You haven't started on it yet. It's mine!" Gai lunged forward and began to paint.

Koji was quick behind him and grabbed his wrist. "That's cheating, get your own side!" He hissed. "Just because you're going to lose, doesn't mean you should cheat!"

"I'm not cheating! You are!" The boys struggled against each other, neither giving in. Suddenly Koji's expression shifted to horror as he felt a paintbrush run across his face. An elegant shade of green now covered his features.

"You butt head! Don't paint me!" With that, Koji ran his own paintbrush across Gai's face.

"Oh, so that's how you want to fight!" Gai cheered, poising the brush above his head. "Bring it on! At last my friend, we can bond like real men should through fighting!"

Koji twitched slightly. "I am not your friend Fuzzy Eyebrows! And don't say such weird things! It's creepy."

Gai grinned. "Not as creepy as you 'No Eyes'". Inside his mind, Gai was patting himself on the back. _Way to go! That was the best comeback ever!_

Koji was pissed now. It was bad enough they had such a stupid mission but this kid was the breaking point for him. "I will not be made fun of by the biggest weirdo from the academy!"

Koji charged forward. Just before reaching his teammate, he slid down into a crouch and took a swing with the paintbrush at Gai's legs. Gai was quick to jump and dodge over his attack and proceeded to swing his arm down hard, hoping to hit Koji square on the head. Koji looked up in time, rolling out of the way to create distance. Gai's brush came down only inches from his head. After a few more minutes of swiping and swinging, their brushes were becoming dry. Koji, stepped back and dipped his brush into the paint bucket beside him, then lunged back at his teammate. Gai did the same with his own bucket. "Prepare for the ultimate attack!" Gai shouted. The boys continued to struggle, covering each other with more and more paint.

Koji threw a right hook to distract Gai as he made another swing with the brush in his left hand. Gai was quick at noticing the fake out, ducked below the hook, and grabbed Koji by the wrist. He quickly disarmed him and knocked the brush over the side of the roof. He then jabbed his own brush towards Koji's face, but Koji managed to grab him by the wrist with his free hand before he could make contact. The boys stood locked in position. Gai put all his strength into pushing the wet bristles towards Koji's already decorated face. Koji narrowed his eyes and pressured back, turning his head slightly to create more distance between him and the brush.

"It's over. I win!" Gai said through gritted teeth, holding the brush towards Koji's face, pushing even harder.

"In…your…dream!" Koji shouted sliding his foot to the side, causing the young ninja to lose his balance. Gai felt himself falling over the edge of the roof but quickly grabbed on to the ledge and swung himself back up. In the process of regaining his composure, Gai accidentally kicked over Koji's bucket of paint, sending it flying off the roof.

"There. All better, see?" Riko smiled at the young boy on the ground, now brandishing a make shift bandage made out of some ripped cloth Riko had found in her pouch. When he realized the injury didn't hurt anymore, he smiled back but quickly became wide-eyed as he looked over Riko's shoulder. "Look out!" He screamed, rolling himself out of the way.

Riko only had enough time to turn slightly and see the wave of green coming at her before it wrapped around her like a liquid blanket. Koji and Gai looked over the edge of the house.

The silence that followed was deafening minus the sound of dripping paint. The two boys on the roof wanted to believe whom they were seeing below on the lawn was someone else, but there was no mistaking their female teammate under all that paint.

"Oh Sh-"

"You idiots!" She screamed. "I'm going to kill you!"

The two boys dashed off to the other side of the roof to escape. Riko launched herself after them, fire burning in her eyes. The two little boys, now afraid for their lives, ran back into the house for shelter.

"She's going to kill us!" Gai whimpered.

"Us! You're the one that kicked the paint bucket!" Koji hissed.

"If you don't think you're to blame, then why are you running?"

"You think me telling her that right now is going to make a difference?"

The boys hopped off the roof and landed hard behind the house. They were about the run forward when a string of kunai landed in a perfect line in front of them. The boys shared a quick look and then took off around the corner of the house hoping the overhang would keep them safe. Unfortunately, they ended up coming face to face with the green monster they were trying to avoid.

Riko stood, knuckles clenched with paint dripping off every angle of her body. A menacing aura hung around her as she stood in front of them.

The boys stood like nervous deer that had been spotted. "Riko-chan…please…" Gai begged. "It…it was an accident."

She growled back. Apparently that wasn't a good enough argument.

Gai decided to take another tactic. "Green…is actually a very striking color on you." He added.

Koji knocked him on the head. "Idiot, don't talk about her appearance, she's already angry enough."

"I'm going to turn your into pin cushions." She hissed, pulling needles out of her hip pouch.

"Please Riko-chan. We're a team. If you kill us, you will have no team. Think about that for a second" Gai continued.

"A price I'm willing to pay." She growled, poising the needles in her hand. "Do you have any idea how hard it is going to be to get this paint off?"

Gai took another step back. "You're…you're just angry. Just breathe. Deep breathing will make you feel better."

"My nose is full of paint!"

"Ah…well then deep breathing might actually be quite bad for you." Gai said thoughtfully.

Riko began to approach them slowly, eyes narrow. The boys took a step back for every one she took forward.

"What do we do?" Gai whispered.

"We'll have to work together on this one." Koji said, as much as he disliked Gai, it was the only way he was going to survive this. "Ideas?"

"What are you two whispering about?" Riko hissed.

"Only one." Gai said. "Run like you've never run before!" He cried.

And with that, the boys took off into the trees behind the orphanage, full tilt.

"Come back here you jerks!" Riko screamed. She was about to take off in hot pursuit when the front door of the orphanage swung open.

"Thank you so much for the tea Ayame-san. It was wonderful." Misaki smiled down at the old woman.

"Not at all my dear, it's so nice to have a more mature sort of company around the orphanage once in a while. Even your students sound like an exceptional bunch" She said.

The pair stepped out onto the porch. Riko stared blankly at her sensei who returned the same dumfounded look. She had no words to explain the situation, nor were there words that could fix it.

"Sensei..." Riko muttered through paint drenched lips.

"...Riko?" Was the only response Misaki could come up with.

The caretaker turned to Misaki with a warm smile. "Perhaps, they should come back tomorrow to finish the work."

Masaki remained quiet and only responded with a nod.

Minato let out a loud laugh, clutching his stomach as it became harder to breath.

"Shut up." Misaki muttered back. "It took me nearly four hours to turn that poor girl's hair back to blonde. Do you have any idea what house paint does to hair?"

Minato stifled his laughter and refilled their cups with sake. "Sorry, but you must see some of the humour in it. What happened to the boys?"

Misaki sighed again. "It took me another hour after helping Riko with her hair to find them. They were hiding out near the Hokage Monument. I think they were convinced I was going to kill them. The look on their faces was priceless. They looked like they were going to wet themselves when I dispelled their camouflage. I think that's the chummiest I've ever seen them actually. Perhaps I should use fear tactics more often to make them get along."

"So you just let them off the hook?"

"Oh my goodness no. I made them go back and apologize to Riko and the caretaker, who was surprisingly good about it."

"Really? She didn't care about her hair being turned green?"

"Oh, sorry I meant the caretaker took it well. Riko actually chased them around the training field for a good hour with a pack of kunai and shuriken. At first, I was going to stop her, but it turned into a good training session. Riko got some target practice in, and the boys got a nice long run out of it. After she calmed down, I made the boys take care of the mission alone as punishment for acting like such idiots. They've been fairly well behaved since then, but I think it's only a matter of time before something else happens."

"Well," Minato replied, "Sounds like they're keeping you busy for sure. I don't have a story to top that one but my teams had its ups and downs as well."

Misaki raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

Minato nodded. "Really. They are an excellent team. Lots of potential, but Kakashi…"

He now had Misaki's full attention. "What's wrong with him? Is he okay? I swear Minato, if you messed up his training..."

Minato waved his hands in defence. "It's nothing like that." He shook his head. "He's just very…different."

Misaki took a sip of her sake. "Different how?"

"We'll, I think he may be a little too focused."

"Too focused? Is that even possible for someone his age?"

Minato scratched his head. "I didn't think so either, but he's almost obsessed when it comes to rules in missions. Sometimes I feel like I'm back in the academy. The boy is like a walking textbook."

"You're upset because he follows the rules?" Misaki frowned. "I know you are trying to make me feel better Minato, but this is hardly going to do it."

"I'm not explaining this well. It's great that he wants to follow the rules and excel as a ninja. I remember having the same drive. However, you and I both know that if we followed the rules to a 'T' we would have been sunk a long time ago. There has to be flexibility and a sense for what's really important. I think he's lacking that sense right now. He's gifted, I give you that, but I just don't know what to do about his need to push the rules all the time. I think he may need a hobby."

"Hardly sounds like something to worry about." Misaki replied. "I think you're just picking at the details because you can't find any problems. At least your team doesn't fight like cats and dogs."

Minato laughed. "Oh, they fight. Though it's usually Obito doing the yelling. I think that there is fighting within just about every team though. No team is ever going to be perfect. We'd be out of a job otherwise!"

"I suppose." Misaki nodded, taking another bite of her meal. "I just hope they grow out of these childish competitions they keep having. I'm going to end up with gray hair if they keep it up."

Minato leaned forward and touched the side of her head. "Actually, I think I see some right here..."

"What!" Misaki cried. She grabbed the empty silver tray on the table and looked at her reflection.

Minato gave a short laugh. "I was only kidding." He then felt the clang of the tray coming down on his head. His ears were ringing from the sound it made.

"Asshole." She hissed, tossing the tray back to the side.

The two went back to idle chit-chat as they ate, bringing up old stories from their childhood, talking about what they planned to do with their time off...whenever that was going to happen. Suddenly, it dawned on Misaki. "The Chuunin exams! They are coming up soon aren't they?"

"In a couple of weeks. You're not seriously considering putting your team in this year are you?" Minato mused.

"Hell no!" She said. "I don't think any of the new Leaf Jonin teachers are submitting teams this year. We have only been working with our teams for a couple of months."

"I agree." Minato replied, "The council has been really pushing to get more ninjas through the ranks because of the war, but I refuse to just send these poor kids out into the field so young. They'd never be able to handle it at this age."

"Exactly. That's not the reason I brought it up though. The reason I mention it is because-"

"Because that means I'm back in town!" Came a booming voice from the door. The two Jonin along with everyone else in the shop turned to look at the woman standing in the doorway. Her long red hair hung down to her waist and she had her hands propped on the sides of the doorframe.

Minato stared wide eyed at the woman. She cocked her head to the side. "Miss me?" She asked, looking at the stunned pair at the table. She walked forward and took a seat on the open bench next to Misaki.

Misaki returned to her sake, acting poised and unmoved by the sudden company. "It's been a while hasn't it, Kushina?"

Kushina turned to her friend with another big smile. "Nearly a year since the last exams." She replied. She then turned her attention to Minato. "Hey Blondie? You treating?"

Minato frowned.

END OF CHAPTER 4

Sorry it's so short. As I said, I've been busy, but it's going to pick up soon. Reviews always welcome!


	5. Chapter 5 Misaki's Secret Weapon

Disclaimer- I don't own Naruto...but you probably already knew that. Riko, Koji and Misaki are my own creations though.

The History of Konoha's Nobel Green Beast

CHAPTER 5

"Kushina-chan! You shouldn't just barge in on other people's dinner." Misaki chastised the woman next to her who seemed oblivious to her lack of manners.

"Why not? Are you two on a date or something?" Kushina teased giving Misaki a nudge in the ribs.

"Hell no!" They shouted back in unison turning their faces to hide the blush.

Kushina grinned and gave them a shrug. "So what does it matter then? Can't I catch up with my favourite leaf Jonin?" She cooed, putting on the best cutesy face she could muster. The innocent act didn't fool Misaki for a second though.

"You're just looking for a free meal." Misaki replied, putting her attention back on her dinner rather than the loud woman beside her.

Kushina gave her a hurt look. "How could you even say that? I just wanted to catch up with old friends…" She trailed off as the next round of meat was put on the side of the table. Her eyes went big as saucers at the sight of the food. Kushina's stomach let out a low growl, causing her to frown. "Although I haven't eaten in a while..." She said quietly with her head down.

Misaki and Minato let out a unified sigh. Kushina was such a mooch. "Alright." Minato said. "I will treat you as well."

Kushina smiled and leaned across the table, placing a sweet kiss on Minato's forehead. "You're the best!" She said in a lyrical voice before greedily digging into the tray next to her.

Misaki noticed the flush of red run across her friend's face from the kiss. He was doing the best to hide it, but was failing miserably. Luckily for him, Kushina was so wrapped up in the food in front of her she hadn't noticed his reaction. The girl had always been pretty oblivious to Minato's feelings for her. It made Misaki feel a little sorry for him. Minato would deny how he felt about Kushina every time Misaki brought it up, but since the first time they had met during the Chuunin exams, it was obvious he liked her. He couldn't hide anything from Misaki, as hard as he might try. Misaki knew all of his facial ticks and what they meant. It was probably why he refused to play poker with her anymore.

"So Kushina." Misaki decided to alleviate some of Minato's discomfort with conversation. "You're still acting as the Whirlpool diplomat I take it?"

"Mph." Was the only reply she got, as Kushina stuffed her mouth full of BBQ.

Misaki sighed. "We've only seen you for all of five minutes and you're already eating like a pig." She chastised.

Kushina turned and glared, swallowing to clear her throat. "At least I'm not some stuck-up prissy little bitch." She hissed back.

"Hmph. At least I know how to act like a lady."

"Girls, please. This is no way to act when catching up with friends." Minato tried to intervene as best he could.

"Shut up Minato!" They turned in unison, fire dancing in their eyes.

Minato gave a nervous laugh and leaned back into his seat. No way was he getting in the middle of this one. He didn't have a death wish.

"You're just as bull-headed and brash as you were last year Kushina! Are you ever going to grow up?" Misaki glared.

"And you're still a stuck up little snot! I'd sooner kill myself then act like you!"

"I can help you with that!" Misaki shot back.

There was an awkward pause. Minato braced himself. This was the turning point. The conversation would go one of two ways now, like it always did. There would either be a sparring match, or they would just-

"I missed fighting with you." Kushina said, her features softening suddenly.

-get over it.

"I missed fighting with you too." Misaki returned a smile. The girls gave a quick hug and laughed at one another.

Minato relaxed a little. Fortune had smiled down on him this time. The interactions between these two girls were always so extreme. He had been caught in the middle of their arguments before and been lucky to walk away alive. If there had been a fight today, he would have had to pay for the damages to the BBQ shop on top of dinner. He was already going to have to live off of instant ramen for the rest of the week till he got his next pay check…not that he minded having to eat ramen.

"So what have you been up to for the past year?" Misaki asked.

"Nothing too terribly exciting. Missions here and there. The last few weeks have been tied up with getting everything organized for the exams. I'm really hoping I can get a promotion soon. I'm tired of doing all the exam paperwork. How about you?"

"Well, I started working as a Jonin teacher and I…What the hell!" Misaki cried. The outburst caused Minato to choke on his sake.

He looked around frantically for the reason behind the outcry. "What? What's wrong?" He asked in between coughs as he tried to clear his lungs of the drink he'd just inhaled.

Misaki stared in horror. "What did you do…to your outfit?" She demanded, pointing at Kushina's top with a shaky hand. Minato hung his head. _She was freaking out over Kushina's clothes?_

Kushina looked down at the area in question with little concern. "Oh this?" She said, pointing to a hole in the top that had been covered with a shoddy looking patch of cloth. "I ripped it during a mission and didn't get a chance to mend it, so I just used a piece of cloth and some binding thread to hold it together."

"How could you ruin such a perfectly good outfit?" Misaki demanded, slamming her hand on the table with quite a bit of force, causing the sake cups to dance around the table. "You wanted a new look, I gave it to you. I worked dam hard on that outfit and you…you…bastardized it!"

"It's just a shirt Misaki." Kushina rolled her eyes.

"I wouldn't say that." Minato warned, picking up his cup to save it from being knocked off the table.

"Just an outfit? Just an outfit! I may be an elite ninja of Konoha. I may be renowned for my skills as a warrior, but I am also a seamstress, and you my dear, have ruined one of my best designs!" She growled between gritted teeth.

Minato laughed quietly to himself, but not loud enough for the girls to notice. If there was one passion Misaki had in life outside of being a ninja, it was fashion and if there was one area that Kushina was totally oblivious to, it was exactly the same thing.

Kushina put her hands up in defence. "Okay, okay. Look, I'm sorry. I'm hopeless with this sort of thing. I didn't know how to fix it and I didn't have time to..." She attempted to explain herself but was cut off by Misaki's grabby hands.

Misaki gave a hard tug to the makeshift material on the top. "Well, now that I've seen this, I can't allow you to keep walking around with it on." The material ripped away easily revealing a sizable portion of Kushina's cleavage.

Minato felt his nose start to bleed a little at the sight of the forbidden skin. Misaki turned and noticed the perverse look on his face. "Creep!" She shouted and whacked Minato hard on the head with the back of her hand.

Minato shook the daze from his head and put his arm up in defence in case she decided to strike again. "Don't blame me. You're the one stripping her in the middle of a restaurant!" He shouted back, annoyed that he was now being dragged into this mess. They now had the attention of the whole room. Patrons looked on in horror at the display in the little booth. Minato noticed the glaring wait staff and waved nervously at them. "Don't worry. Just a small outburst. It's under control" He tried to reassure them.

Kushina was now holding the cloth in place with her hand to prevent flashing the entire room. "You could have waited till we were at your apartment before you start ripping my shirt to shreds!" She snapped at the green-eyed woman next to her.

Minato gave another nervous laugh. "On second thought, could I just have the bill?" He asked one of the staff who gladly handed him the piece of paper. Anything to get them out of their establishment.

After a few more minutes of dramatic arguing in the BBQ, Minato managed to usher his two female friends outside and away from the prying eyes of the customers. With a little convincing, he's managed to get Misaki to tie the makeshift top back together, with the promise that the girls could meet up later to fix her outfit.

"We'll that was an interesting dinner." He said as a feeling of relief washed over him now that they were away from the judgmental stares.

The two women glanced back at him with dark angry eyes to which he nervously laughed back. They continued walking down the street. The tension seemed to lift after a few minutes and the group started to idly chat. "So how about you two show me around today. This place can't have changed much in a year, but a tour would still be fun." Kushina suggested.

Misaki was about to agree to the request but then thought it over. This might be a good opportunity to push Minato out of his comfort zone. A mischievous grin danced across her face making Minato nervous. _What was she plotting? _He wondered.

"Actually." Misaki replied. "I have to be checking in on my team soon. They are working on a few drills with a specialized Jonin instructor today and I want to see how they are progressing."

"What? I thought you said you were free to get drun…mph mphmm mph." Minato replied under the pressure of Misaki's hand.

"I'm sorry. It slipped my mind." She cooed. "But, I will meet up with you later to help you with your outfit. Be at my place by 10PM okay Kushina-chan? Bye!" She gave a quick wink to her blonde haired friend and then vanished in a puff of smoke.

Minato stood frozen in his place, staring at the tall red head across from him. "Umm…" he said scratching his head nervously. He had no idea what to say to her, now that they were alone. He had imagined the sort of things he would say to her the next time they met, but none of those words were bold enough to pass his lips right now. He'd have to remember to make Misaki pay for this later.

Kushina huffed and tapped her foot impatiently. When she realized he wasn't going to make a move, she took matters into her own hands. "Well," She said. "Come on! Let's not waste time just standing around." She grabbed his hand and dragged him down the street. Minato stared at their linked hands and smiled a little bit as he let her pull him through the crowds. Maybe he'd let Misaki off the hook just this one time.

"One more time!" Gai cheered, pumping his fists into the air.

His two teammates stared at him like he had lost it.

"Gai, we have been doing this drill for over six hours now. Even our instructor looks tired." Riko said, pointing to the drained looking man propped against the post.

Gai responded with a loud laugh. "It is because we are younger than him. We have more energy, so we must take advantage of that and work harder! So come on everybody, let's go again!"

Riko glanced over at Koji, who was also panting. He looked ready to give up as well. "This is stupid Gai. No Genin team works harder than us. To do anymore tree climbing today would be pointless. We should rest or we're going to kill ourselves." He said.

"Try to see reason Gai." Riko demanded. "My dad is expecting me home in fifteen minutes to help out with the shop."

"And my clan is having a meeting tonight that I can't miss. It's time to call it a night Gai." Koji said, backing Riko up.

Gai frowned. There was so much sunlight left and his team already wanted to call it quits. "Fine, if you have to be home." He pouted.

The two let out a sigh of relief.

Koji packed up his things and started to head out. "I will see you both in two days. Goodnight." He said giving a quick nod to his teammates and walked down the hill towards the heart of the village.

Gai sat down on the spot and continued to pout. The time off seemed like such a waste to him, but every team got one day off for every eight days of training and missions. He'd have to learn to accept that his teammates enjoyed the time off more than he did. Gai glanced up as a shadow suddenly cast over him. Riko was looking down at him with a sympathetic smile.

"Try to get some rest Gai. Even you need a break sometimes." She said. She then turned on her heal and headed down towards the village, waving behind her as she went.

Gai then turned his attention to the last remaining soul on the field. Perhaps not all hope was lost. "Sensei! Lets do tree walking races again!" He said, giving another fist pump.

The teacher's eyes got big. "No…no more. Leave me alone! You're crazy! No one should want to do tree exercises this much!" He shouted and vanished in a puff of smoke. Gai tilted his head to the side and frowned again.

"You could have just said no." Gai muttered.

He stood up and gave a long stretch. There was still so much day left and no one to work with. How was he supposed to get stronger if there was no one to train with? Gai scratched his chin in thought. There had to be something…then the solution came to him.

"Of course!' He cried, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a sheet of paper. "Dad's ultimate list!"

_"Son." Gai's father said from across the dinner table one night. "Now that you are going to be graduating from the academy soon, it's time I told you the secret steps to becoming a powerful ninja."_

_Gai's eyes widened like saucers at the thought of some magic formula to his goals. "Really father? You will tell me?"_

_His father smiled broadly at him and gave him a thumbs up. "If you can complete all the tasks on this list, there is nothing that can stop you from becoming the ultimate ninja!"_

_"Wow, really? Amazing! I will have to write it down. Just hang on." Gai took off like a flash from the table to find paper._

_"Really dear. Should you be filling his head with ridiculous ideas?" His mother chide from the other side of the table._

_"My dear, there is nothing ridiculous about what I'm going to say. I wouldn't be the great ninja I am today if it were not for these rules I am going to give our son."_

_Gai finally returned to the table, panting slightly with his pen poised and ready to write. "Okay. Tell me the secret!"_

_His father gave a chuckle and smiled. "Alright, the first step to becoming a ninja is to always work your hardest. Work harder than your team, push them to work harder and never be lazy."_

_"Yes sir!" Gai said, writing vigorously on the paper. He then looked back up at the man before him expectantly._

_"The next step is to find a role model. Someone that you believe best represents the ninja way. Watch them, learn from them and use their style and skills to improve your own."_

_Gai replied with a nod. "Find a role model."_

_"Next. Create your own image. You must always be unique. If you are not unique, how will people distinguish your greatness from others?"_

_"I see." Gai said in awe._

_"Oh good grief." His mother said, and went about clearing dishes from the table. She loved her husband, but he could be such an idiot sometimes._

_"You must also become the master of all skills. Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, Taijutsu, Senjutsu, weapons, summoning…all of it! Everything you can find. But focus on one at a time. Learn one weapon well; learn specific Genjutsus that suit your style. If you try to do it all at once, you will never master anything."_

_"Hai"_

_"Finally, and I cannot stress this point enough..."_

_Gai was vibrating in anticipation for the ultimate secret. "Yes father?"_

_"You must always. ALWAYS! Be a nice guy. Never let people get you down. Only the positive will ever succeed."_

_"I understand father. Thank you for giving me this advice." He bowed._

_Gai's father became teary-eyed. "Oh son! You are magnificent!"_

_"Father!"_

_"Son!"_

_"Oh brother." His mother said, hanging her head over the sink of dirty dishes._

Gai re-examined the list in his hand. "Work hard. Check. Nice guy…check. Find a role model…Hmm." Gai tried to think hard. "Who is a suitable role model?"

He sat in silence for a few minutes, trying to come up with the best option. "Ah ha! Of course. It's so obvious. It's Misaki-sensei." He slapped his forehead as if the answer should have come to him right away. "A teacher is an excellent role model!"

He looked back down at the list. "Watch them, learn from them and use their style and skills to improve your own…then its settled. My mission for the rest of the day shall be to monitor and study Misaki-sensei. Then I will be one step closer to becoming the ultimate ninja!"

Gai pumped his fist in excitement and ran off down to the village to start tracking his prey.

Masaki strolled down the main streets of Konoha, half paying attention to where she was going and half day dreaming. The sun was so warm today; it was nice being able to take some time to relax. She knew it wouldn't last long though. Tomorrow she would have to start preparations for the next team mission. This would be their first one outside of the village. She hadn't bothered to tell her team yet since it would have meant dealing with Gai's incessant questioning. She appreciated his enthusiasm, but sometimes, he was a little too much for her. She glanced around at the people walking past and finally rested on a familiar face.

"Riko." Misaki called to the young girl.

Riko looked over at the voice calling her. "Oh. Hello Misaki-sensei."

Misaki approached the young girl. "How was the training session today?"

Riko gave her a bright smile. "Really good. You were right. That special Jonin teacher did a great job teaching us tree climbing techniques. We all managed to do it by the end of the lesson."

Misaki felt a sense of pride fill her chest. "I'm glad to hear that. Chakra control will be very important for our next mission."

"By the way sensei," Riko said softly. "You haven't told us anything about the mission yet."

Misaki nodded. "I know. I know. I just didn't want you getting over excited. Just make sure you are ready with everything I told you to pack and be at the departure point for 7AM."

Riko gave a curt bow. "Yes. Thank you Sensei."

Misaki gave a quick nod and the girl went on her way to the weapons shop.

As Misaki continued walking down the street, she couldn't ignore the tingling sensation on the back of her neck any longer. Being as subtle as possible, she scanned the area for the source. Someone was watching her and she didn't like it. Her eyes finally landed on a small sack of flour by a merchant table. She approached the bag but pretended to ignore it as she examined the items on the table it was propped against. "Your work is lovely." She commented to the merchant.

"Thank you Miss. Might I interest you in some of your top of the line merchandise over here?" He asked, directing her attention to the other end of the table.

Misaki stepped forward, kicking the bag in the process. The bag let out a loud 'oomph'. Masaki looked down. "Oh my, what a noisy little flour bag you have here." She commented. "Does it make any other noises if I kick it harder?" She asked, poising her foot in the air.

With that, the bag vanished in a puff of smoke leaving the form of a young boy in its place. "Please sensei! Don't kick me again!" He cried.

"Gai, what are you doing?" She asked, placing a hand on her hip.

"I'm…I'm doing research." He said cautiously.

Misaki flinched. She'd heard that term before from Minato's sensei and feared the worse. He was too young for that sort of thing wasn't he? "What sort of research?" She asked.

"I…I want to become a better ninja!" He said, trying to sound more confident.

Misaki sighed. _Thank god, he's not a peeping tom_. She thought. She should have already assumed that he wasn't peeping. If he was, this was a very strange place to go about it. "So why are you disguising yourself as a flour bag?" She asked.

The young boy looked up at her. "I am trying to watch strong ninjas to learn how to become stronger."

Misaki smiled. "I see. Well let me give you a piece of advice Gai." She said, crouching down to the young boy's eye level. "A bag of flour is not a good disguise. Learn to be stealthier if you are going to monitor people."

The little boy nodded his head vigorously. "Yes. Thank you Sensei." He reached into his pocket and wrote down her words on his pad of paper.

Misaki raised a curious eyebrow. This kid was really serious about his research. She reached down and ruffled his bowl shaped hair. "Work hard Gai. You'll find your own path to being a great ninja someday." She said.

The little boy's eyes lit up like fireworks. "Thank you sensei!" He shouted, eyes brimming with tears.

She couldn't help but chuckle. This kid was pretty amusing. With that she took off down the street, Gai watching her go.

"My father was right. A good role model is helpful. I have already learned from her and it's only been a few minutes!" He looked down at his new 'no flour bag' rule. "I must continue my research but with much more stealth this time."

Riko walked into the front of the weapons shop. "I'm home!" She shouted towards the back door. The door creaked open slowly and a tall man with deep dark eyes walked through.

"I'm glad to hear it. We could use the extra help. There has been quite a rush for weapon repairs today and we need them done for tomorrow."

Riko let out a sigh. _Great, so much for a day off_. She thought to herself. She shouldn't complain though. Her father offered her a small compensation for working in the family shop and the money was always helpful for purchasing supplies she normally wouldn't be able to splurge on.

Riko walked in behind the front counter and looked around. Her father hadn't been kidding. There were a ridiculous number of weapons back there. "Where on earth did they all come from?" She awed.

The old man chuckled. "A number of teams just came back from missions today. It's unusual for so many to come back at the same time, but it happened, and they all showed up on our doorstep looking for repairs." The man reached over and lifted a list from the counter and handed it to his daughter. "Would you mind prioritizing the weapons by this list, so we can get started?"

Riko nodded and started sorting through the list. "Let's See…"

She read through the list carefully. There had to be at least 45 names here! Some were for repairs to damaged weapons; others were for completely new orders. It was going to be hard to sort them by priority, but she was pretty good with this sort of thing and if her whole family was in tonight, they would likely get through most of the list by mid morning…if they didn't sleep. She skimmed through the list and started sorting.

-Knuckle Braces- Choza Akimichi

-Katana- Fugaku Uchiha

-Katana- Tonbo Tobitake

-Long Sword- Raido Namiashi

-Order of Shiruken and Needles- Miko Hagane

-Order of Specialized Kunai- Minato Namikaze

-White Light Chakra Saber- Kakashi Hatake

Riko's eyes almost bulged out of her head as she read the last name on the list. "Ka…Kakashi?" She sputtered aloud.

Her father looked up from his work. "Hm? Oh yes, he came in with his teacher earlier today. Dinged up that sabre of his pretty good! You think he would take better care of such as valuable weapon, but you know how people are. No one cares about weapons as much as we do." The man laughed to himself.

Riko's head snapped on its axis till she was staring directly at her father, eyes wide with excitement. "Do you need me to run the counter tomorrow?" She asked, oblivious to what her father had just said.

"We'll, we can always use the help Riko, but isn't tomorrow your day off?"

"I don't mind. Really, I can work it." She said, her hands shaking with excitement.

"Really? You're normally never this eager to work on your day off." He replied in a suspicious tone. His daughter was up to something.

Riko rapidly thought of an excuse. "Well. We have a big mission in two days, and I could use the money since it sounds like we may be going on a trip somewhere. You know extra supplies and such." She lied bold faced to her father. It was a sensible reply, but deep down inside she just wanted to chance to talk to him. Kakashi was coming to her shop! She could have bounced off the walls she was so excited. That was until a certain memory flashed back into her mind.

"_We all remember the rules correct?" Kurenai looked at her friends with a warning eye. The girls nodded with enthusiasm. _

"_Whoever gets onto Kakashi's team is the one that gets to pursue him. The others must accept defeat and search for another love." Riko said, giving a serious nod to Kurenia, who returned it._

"_We are to remain friends with the winner no matter what, since we have all agreed to this." Rin added._

"_And the others, as her friends will help by defending against other girls attempting to get his attention." Riko added, running her fingers through her long wavy blonde hair_.

_Crap_. She thought. That stupid deal she'd made. How could she have forgotten?

_Well, there is nothing wrong with talking to him right? _Her inner voice told her.

Yes. Just because she wasn't allowed to try and date him didn't mean she couldn't talk to him.

"I would really like to work tomorrow dad." She said with a confident nod.

The man scratched his chin. "Alright. If you need the money that badly." He said.

Riko squealed excitedly and rushed over to hug her father. "Oh, thank you dad!" She cried, and then ran into the back room.

He called after her, "Hey, get back up here. You haven't finished sorting the weapons yet!"

"Day 1, 9PM. So far, Misaki-sensei has been a valuable source of knowledge. I have witnessed many things I was not aware Jonins did. I have also gotten much better with my stealth. She has not noticed me since the previous incident, or at least, she does not appear to care." Gai wrote furiously in his note book. "I have learned that even on their days off, many Jonin still practice their skills. Today, Misaki preformed a session using her lightning step jutsu, while hitting targets in a field. I think the technique is too powerful for me right now, but now I know it is important to work even on days off. I will have to try explaining this to my teammates again."

Misaki began to stretch and gave a big yawn. "Well, that was a good little workout." She mused to herself, looking out of the corner of her eye. It was difficult this time in the dark, but she could tell Gai was still watching her. He was doing a much better job hiding than last time, which made her happy. Normally she would have taken the day off to go lounge in the Jonin office or nap in a tree, but Gai seemed so adamant about following her, she might as well set a good example for him. A little training wasn't going to hurt her either.

She walked over to the stump she had left her things on and collected them to head home. She scanned the area one last time and could no longer sense her student's chakra signal. _He must have finally left_. She thought. She should be doing the same herself. Kushina would be at her doorstep in an hour looking to have her outfit fixed. Misaki walked out of the training field and towards her house, humming as she went along. "We'll, since I have an extra hour, maybe I can afford to swing by the fabric store on my way home." She mused to herself. She loved going to the fabric store. Being one of their best customers, she could always get a deal on fabrics to fix up Kushina's outfit tonight. Her mind began to drift as she walked along the darkened streets, blissfully unaware that her student was actually still following her at a fair distance.

Watching her in her home was vital to his mission. Some of her greatest secrets likely lay there, and he wasn't going to give up that opportunity.

Misaki arrived home and opened the door. "I'm home!" She called towards the bedroom of her small apartment.

A pair of bright yellow eyes lit up from the darkened doorway of the room.

"Have a good sleep Niko?" She asked.

The cat gave yawn and hopped off the bed. He sauntered into the kitchen area, accepting a stroke from the woman as she walked by him. Niko sat patiently by the fridge door and looked up at Misaki expectantly, giving her a curt meow.

"Ah, I see. It is the milk that was missed and not me." She teased the cat. She opened the fridge door, pulled out the milk container and poured a small saucer for the cat, who took to it with a greedy tongue before it was even on the floor. Misaki laughed. "You and Kushina are an awful lot alike, you know?" She mused, giving the cat another pet.

"Thanks for comparing me to your cat." Came a sarcastic voice from the window.

"Kushina!" She cried in surprise. "You're early."

"Actually, I'm right on time." She replied, slipping the rest of the way through the window.

Misaki looked over at her clock which was blinking 9:55. She must have taken longer at the fabric store than she had thought. Kushina was now sporting a civilian outfit of plain blue pants and a black top. She was carrying a plain brown paper bag in one hand and the clothes to be mended in the other.

She set the bag and clothes on the table and Masaki gave her a questioning look. "What's in the bag?" She asked.

Kushina reached in a pulled out a generously sized bottle. "I thought the least I could do is provide the entertainment while you fix my outfit." She cooed swinging the bottle in Misaki's direction.

Misaki eyed up the bottle of sake. "Cups are in the right hand cupboard." She said, pointing in the direction of the kitchen. She picked up the clothing Kushina had set down and headed to another room in her apartment.

Kushina walked over to the cupboard and grabbed a pair of drinking cups, greeting Niko on the way by. "Who's a good kitty?"

"Meow."

She then followed after the strawberry blonde, who had disappeared into another room. She walked in and stared with awe. "Wow, this room is even more cluttered than last time I was here." Kushina teased.

"My little haven away from the ninja life." Misaki smiled pulling out a sewing box and taking a seat on a cushion in the corner.

The entire room was cluttered with sewing thread and fabrics. There was a jar of beads against the wall of just about every color imaginable. There were meshes, feathers, chains, bands, ribbons and silks flowing like small rivers from every direction and draining towards the center of the room which held a small changing screen that was also draped with clothing. To the average eye, there was no logic or order to anything in the room, yet to Misaki, it was her ordered chaos.

"Let's take a look at the damage you've done." Misaki said, analyzing the shirt Kushina had brought. "I really can't imagine what you were doing to make such a large hole."

"Like I said. I haven't had time to fix it and it's just been getting bigger. Lucky I've got the best seamstress in the Fire Country for a friend huh?" Kushina grinned.

"I am far from the best and if you're always depending on me for you clothing needs, one day you're going to run out of clothes and end up naked." Misaki chastised her friend.

"Maybe it would help me get that promotion I've been waiting for." Kushina replied thoughtfully.

Misaki gave her a disapproving look. "I'm joking, I'm joking." Kushina laughed. "But thank you again for fixing it for me."

"Not a problem at all. Now where is my sake?" She said as she started pulling on the threads of the shirt. Kushina grinned and handed over a small cup to her friend.

"Thank you." She said, taking a quick sip and placing the cup next to the cushion. "So how was your date with Minato?" Misaki asked without looking up from her work.

Kushina gave her a quizzical look. "Date?"

"Yes, you two spent the afternoon together didn't you?" Misaki asked as she drank back some more of the sake.

"I'd hardly call that a date. We've hung out together alone before. We did the usual tour. He showed me the new built up district, went for Ramen, he bought me some sweets…"

Misaki sighed. "God your thick." She said, taking another sip of sake between stitches. Apparently her plan to get the ball rolling with Minato had failed again.

Kushina huffed and crossed her arms across her chest. "What do you mean 'I'm thick'?"

"If you can't figure it out, I'm sure as hell not going to help you." Misaki replied. "Pass me the blue thread in the chest over there please."

Kushina did as she was asked, but continued to look unhappy with her friend. "How am I supposed to figure it out if you won't help me?" She demanded.

"Because I've been doing my best to stay out of it up to this point. I was hoping it would fix itself. I'm starting to think your pretty hopeless though my friend." She replied, taking another swig of sake.

"I am not hopeless! Just, stop talking in riddles and tell me what you know!" Kushina growled, refilling both of their cups with sake.

Misaki sighed and leaned back from her work, taking another long sip of the sake. She was going to have to ask Kushina where she'd gotten this stuff, it was delicious. "Have you heard the saying 'Actions speak louder than words'?" Misaki asked.

Kushina nodded.

"Well, you should try paying a bit better attention to people's actions. Someone is trying to tell you something." She said matter of factly.

Kushina tried to think about it for a moment then pulled on her hair. "That's just more riddles! You're not making any sense!" She whined.

Misaki growled. "Minato likes you you dolt!" She slapped a hand over her lips as the words came out. It appeared that the sake was already taking effect. Minato was going to kill her now.

"What? What do you mean he likes me?" Kushina asked, taking a seat next to Misaki.

Well, there was no sense in hiding it now. If anything, she was probably doing her friend a favor. "That man likes you, and if you can't see it, then the little faith I had in you as a women will curl up and die tonight."

Kushina was blushing slightly. "There's no way Blondie could like me. That's…that's impossible!"

Misaki let out a goofy snort. "If there is anything I've learned in this world it's that anything is possible." Misaki said. She then turned to Kushina with a serious look in her eyes. "You must never tell him that I told you this. I don't want him using Rasengan on my ass."

Kushina placed a hand over her heart. "I swear I won't tell." She said with a smile. Kushina was feeling a little giddy now. She'd always kind of liked Minato, but figured being from another village put her off the radar. He was pretty cute. Still, she would have to think this over. Getting involved with a ninja from another village was just messy and she didn't know if she could handle messy.

Kushina got up and started wandering around the room to get her mind off of things. She examined the outfits that Misaki had designed that were draped around the room. Many of them were gorgeous. Any woman would kill to have a wardrobe made out of the clothes in this room. Well, Kushina was probably the exception. She liked nice clothes, but she also kept her closet pretty simple. The outfit Misaki had designed for her last year was probably the most detailed thing she owned. That's when her eyes fell on it. "Hey, if your faith in me is going to curl up and die tonight, can it curl up and die in this thing?" She said, holding up the garment.

Misaki looked up and let out a laugh. "Oh my, I forgot about that thing." She said, setting aside Kushina's top. "It really is as awful as I remember."

"I think my faith in you as a seamstress just died a little bit. What were you thinking when you made this?" Kushina laughed.

"Please, let me explain. I had some leftover material when I made my latest outfit." She said, pointing to the green dress top she was wearing. "The summer festival was coming up and there was a costume party going on at Inochi's place so I thought I'd try to make a costume."

"What were your going to go as? A tree? A bog monster?" Kushina teased, waving the outfit back and forth in the air.

"Okay, its bad…I know."

"Bad is an understatement. Please tell me you didn't wear it."

"No. No. It's remained here since I made it. I was thinking of throwing it out actually."

"You really should."

Gai continued to scale the side of the apartment. It had been easy tracking Misaki to this area, but figuring out which apartment was hers had been difficult. So far he had scared some poor old woman watering her plants and accidently ripped down someone's laundry. With only a few windows left, he slowly approached the lit window to his right. He was careful to drop his chakra levels low so as not to be noticed. Luckily there was a distinct ledge he could stand on. He crouched on the ledge and gradually brought his head up to peer through the window, hoping he'd gotten it right this time. The window was slightly ajar so he could hear the loud laughter of the two women clearly inside. He stared in.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Kushina shouted like a dramatic announcer. "Modelling, the latest in ninja clothing technology...From her latest fashion line put your hands together for Ms. Kurakumo Misaki!"

Suddenly, Misaki came storming into the room, sporting the full green jumpsuit. She gave a few defining poses, being as dramatic as possible, as Kushina laughed hysterically while cheering her on.

"Oh mama, you lookin' hot!" Kushina shouted, causing Misaki to burst out laughing as well.

Kushina regained her composure and continued her announcing duties. "It's sleek in design. It's sweat proof, fire proof, a total stand out suit that says 'I am unique'. For the ninja that wants to stand up and stand out. The ultimate training uniform!"

"Training uniform?" Misaki asked, pausing in mid pose.

Kushina nodded. "Oh yes. Wear it to work. Wear it to parties, wear it to bed. The best outfit for all your ninja needs. This is a one of a kind Misaki classic!"

Gai stared in awe. The suit was really that amazing? It was true, the design was sleek, yet it looked flexible in nature. The green jumpsuit clung to Misaki's body, leaving little the imagination. He had been right all along. The greatest secret to Misaki really was in her home and it was that suit! He had to have it. But how on earth was he going to get it?

"Well." Misaki said. "It is a one of a kind, and only an ultimate ninja could ever possess such a uniform. I couldn't possibly just give this to anyone. Perhaps it will just have to stay in my collection forever." She gave a dramatic sigh.

Kushina placed her hands on her cheeks. "Perish the thought!" Kushina cried.

The girls let out another fit of laughter. Once it settled down, Misaki tried to work the zipper in the back. "Alright, help me out of this thing!" She shouted, realizing the zipper was stuck. Kushina laughed and went about helping free her friend from the green monstrosity.

Gai turned on the ledge and slid down to the sitting position feeling dejected. In her wardrobe forever? How on earth would he get his hands on it now?

"Let's put this thing where it belongs!" Kushina shouted through the window.

The green jumpsuit flew out the window and floated slightly in the air before him like a gift from the heavens. It glinted in the moonlight as it began its decent towards the streets below. Without a second thought, the young ninja leapt from the ledge, grabbing the suit in mid air before landing on the rooftop across the street and tearing out of there as fast as he could before being sighted.

Misaki stuck her head out the window and looked for the missing suit. "Kushina! That's a waste of material! I could have at least made some cleaning rags out of the thing!"

"Oh stop whining and come finish the sake with me!" She laughed.

Gai kept running like a bat out of hell. He had it. The suit. The ultimate suit. He couldn't stop grinning as he ran down the streets towards his home. The halted at his front door and decided to opt for going through the bedroom window rather than the front door. Facing his mother's wrath for being late just seemed stupid. He hopped up onto the rooftop and slipped in through the window.

"Sly as a fox." He smiled as he landed on the bedroom floor without a sound. He laid the outfit out on the bed and stared in awe. It was like possessing an ultimate scroll. This would be the key to his success. The outfit was clearly too big for him and would need some alterations. He walked to his bedroom door and slipped into the hallway. He could see the light on in his father's study and was careful to creep by undetected. He reached the end of the hall and slid open the closet door, where he found his mothers sewing kit.

He'd helped his mother with sewing many times, so he figured he could probably handle fixing the outfit himself. His eyes fell on some other fabrics in the cupboard as well and then he remembered another point on his list.

"_You must always be unique. If you are not unique, how will people distinguish your greatness from others?"_

He grabbed them all. It would be smart to put his own personal touch on the suit that way Misaki-sensei would not think he'd just stole the outfit from her. "I'll show you sensei. I will show you I am worthy of this suit!"

He then pattered down the hall to work on his project.

Riko sat eagerly at the counter of the weapons shop. Any minute now, Kakashi was going to walk through that door. She'd prepared meticulously this morning. Perfect teeth, perfect hair…nothing was out of place. She'd even opted for her best ninja uniform. She'd never looked better. Every second seemed to tick on like an eternity.

"Where is he?" She muttered. Most of the people on the list had already been by. Even Minato, Kakashi's own teacher, had already picked up his order. She was about to give up when she heard the gentle jingle of the bells on the door. Riko's heart nearly stopped as she watched the lazy eyed ninja approach the counter.

"G-good morning Kakashi-kun." She stuttered out.

"Yo." He said giving her a curt wave. "I'm here to pick up my order." He said.

She nodded vigorously and reached under the counter. "Yes, it's all fixed. It was wonderful finally getting to see the White Light Chakra Sabre in person. It's so cool when rare weapons come into the shop." She said.

Kakashi raised a curious eyebrow. "Really?" He asked.

She nodded again. _Just keep up the conversation Riko. You can do it._

"Yes, the white fang is one of the more well known weapons in Konoha. The power you can wield with it alone is amazing. It helps to be light natured to get the most out of it, but any smart ninja in the village would give his left hand to have a weapon like this one." She rambled. When she noticed the unmoved look on Kakashi's face, she started to feel nervous. "Sorry, I'm rambling again."

"No. It's okay." He replied, taking the sabre from her. "I'm glad you appreciate the value of this weapon."

Riko felt her heart stop again. He was glad she appreciated the weapon!

_Alright. Go Riko!_ She cheered inside. She was about to continue on with their conversation until she heard the front door of the shop open again.

"Oi! Kakashi, we need to go." Obito said, approaching the front counter. "Hey Riko." He added, giving her a wave.

"Hello Obito." She smiled back to cover up the glare she really want to give him. He was ruining her one chance to talk to Kakashi!

Kakashi nodded at the Uchiha and reached into his pocket. "Just a sec. I need to pay for this." He said. He pulled out his wallet and started to count out the cost for the repairs. Obito tapped his foot. "Now who's making us late, huh?" Obito sneered.

Kakashi turned with a slight glare. "We are not on a time limit right now; unlike every time you have been late." He replied, furrowing his brow in irritation.

Obito was about to snap back when the front door of the shop opened again.

"Good morning fellow ninjas!" Shouted the boy from the door.

"Gai what are you do…no scratch that. What are you wearing?" Obito said.

Gai walked towards the wide eyed ninjas at the counter, strutting as he went along. "I know! Isn't it amazing! I have the ultimate suit. The ultimate key to becoming the greatest ninja ever! Mwa ha ha!" He flexed slightly, causing the green fabric to cling to the edges of his body in more ways than anyone at the counter wanted to see.

Obito, Riko and Kakashi all paled at the sight before them. No words could express what they were feeling.

Riko was the first to speak. "It's so…green." She said. _It was exactly the same color as Misaki's shirt actually. Is that where he'd gotten it?_ Misaki seemed too stylish, there was no way she would possess such an outfit.

He hopped onto the counter and kicked his feet up on top to show off his legs. "Look, I even added these super useful leg warmers! Since the outfit has no pockets, I can use these to carry all my weapons and scrolls. Pretty smart right?"

"They're so…orange." Was all she said back. Her brain didn't seem to comprehend the sight in front of her very well.

He then turned to the two stunned boys in front of the counter. "Jealous?" Gai grinned.

"Not even a little bit." Obito said, shuddering slightly.

"Hai." Kakashi added, unable to take his eyes away from the green jumpsuit. _Where do you even get something like that?_ He wondered.

Gai crossed his arms across his chest and gave them a smug look. "You just wait. When I surpass both of you, you'll be begging for your own suit!"

"I doubt that." Obito said.

"So…tight." Riko added.

Obito grabbed Kakashi by the arm. "Come on Kakashi. Let's get out of here before the weird rubs off on us."

"Hai." He replied shaking out of the trance of the green suit. He picked up the sabre again, placed the payment for the repairs on the counter and the two boys walked out.

"Later Riko." Obito waved over his shoulder as they passed through the door.

"Bye." She replied. Her senses started to come back to her and she looked over at the green suited boy still situated on her counter. "Mind getting down from the counter?" She asked.

"Sorry." He said, slipping off of the counter and landing next to her.

"Gai, why are you wearing that thing?" She asked.

Gai looked around the shop to make sure they were alone and motioned for her to lean in so he could whisper. She did so.

"I have been tracking our teacher for the past day and discovered this secret weapon in her home." He said with excitement.

"Secret weapon?" She asked examining the suit to make sure she hadn't missed something.

Gai nodded. "Yes, she and an elite ninja from Whirlpool were talking about it. This thing can help improve the results of my training tenfold, not to mention it gives me my own real sense of style. Right? Right?" He said, giving her a thumbs up and a smile.

"Oh, it's unique alright." She said. "So you came to show me your new outfit?" She asked.

"Actually." He said twiddling his thumbs nervously. "I need your help."

Riko raised a questioning eyebrow. "My help?" She asked.

He nodded again, reaching into his leg warmer and pulling out a sheet of paper. "You see, I have this list. It's to help me become a better ninja." He laid the paper on the counter so she could see. "There are different things that I need to do to become a better ninja." He directed her attention to a point on the list. "One is to become good at different skills and well…I don't know how to use weapons very well yet."

"You want to learn to use a weapon?" She asked.

Gai nodded his head vigorously. "Yes, I want to learn as much as I can." He said. "I'll learn all weapons and become a master!" He cheered.

"Gai, that would take many lifetimes to do. It's better just to learn to be good with one weapon first." She explained.

"I see. I think my father said something about that as well. Very well, I will become good at one weapon then."

"Okay."

"Then the rest of the weapons."

Riko sighed. There was no winning this argument. "Well, I can help you, but maybe we should set up another time to do this. After all, we have a mission tomorrow, so there isn't a lot of time."

"Could we just start picking out a weapon then?" He asked, giving her puppy dog eyes. This was a good chance to spend some quality time with Riko alone and he didn't want to pass it up.

She gave an uncomfortable smile. "Well, I would but-"

"But she has other commitments." said another voice from the front door. Gai turned to see the white eyed boy smirking at him. "Gai, what the hell are you wearing?"

Gai took a defensive stance. "The suit that is going to help me to surpass you in everything!" He shouted.

Koji raised an inquisitive eyebrow, then shook his head. "You look ridiculous."

Before the argument could get any more heated, Riko was standing between them. "Please don't fight in my father's shop." She demanded. She then turned her attention to the Hyuuga. "I'm ready to go Koji." She said.

He gave her a nod and stepped aside to let her pass through the door. Koji then turned back to Gai with a grin. "You will never surpass me Gai, just face it. I just beat you right now. Now if you will excuse me, I'm going to go hang out with Riko…and you're not."

Gai felt his blood boil again. He shouted after his teammate. "You just wait. The ultimate Green Gai will show you!"

Koji paused at the door and turned back to Gai. "For the last time Fuzzy Eyebrows. Stop giving yourself titles." He said and disappeared into the street, leaving Gai alone in the weapons shop.

Gai flexed his knuckles in frustration. Gai had planned his chance to spend time with Riko so carefully and Koji had once again managed to ruin it. Gai looked around at all the weapons on the wall. Swords of all shapes and sizes, throwing weapons, close range weapons….the options were endless! "No wonder this is such a popular shop. They have something for everyone." Gai said to himself. His eyes fell on a rather thick looking long sword on the shelf. Fascinated with the design he reached out and picked it up.

"Cool!" He said, turning the metal blade in his hands. He then focused his attention on a mannequin in the middle of the room sporting some body armour. Gai's imagination began to wander.

"Oh, so you think you can defeat me eh?" He said with a sneer at the mannequin. He stood silent for a couple of seconds as if the mannequin were telling him something.

After the pause, Gai lifted the sword over his head. "You are a fool if you think you can win against me, for I am the great Maito Gai. The man of you doom!" He shouted and swung at the mannequin. The sword was much heavier than he had initially predicted and his swing knocked it over with a hard thud. As the mannequin tipped over, it managed to knock over several racks lined up in the center of the room, causing a domino effect of the weapons in the shop.

Gai stood frozen in the middle of the room, clutching the sword, unsure what to do.

"What was that noise?" came a gruff voice from the back of the shop.

"Eep!" Gai squeaked. He dropped the sword and ran through the front door full tilt. As he flew through the streets he could hear the old man yelling from within the store.

"What happened to my shop?" He cried.

END

Tee hee. At last, he has his green jumpsuit. Poor Misaki is going to have a heart attack when she sees him *evil grin*.


	6. Chapter 6 First Day Out

A/N- I've been updating pretty fast on this one. Please don't let this get your hopes up as I am on vacation and have a lot more time right now. So this will not last.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Naruto characters. They belong to Kishimoto. Riko, Misaki and Koji are my own creations.

The History of Konoha's Noble Green Beast

CHAPTER 6

"Meow."

"Go away."

"Meeeeow."

"It's too early."

"Meow?"

"I said no."

"Prrrrr…." Prod. Prod. Prod.

"Niko, I love you, but so help me if you don't go away I'm gonna turn you into a new fur hat."

Prod. Prod. Prod.

"For crying out—"

*Alarm clock rings*

Misaki turned over and stared at the noisy little box beside her bed and then back at her cat. "You just had your fur saved. You realize that don't you?"

"Meow." Niko replied. The cat seemed to be giving her a look of smug satisfaction, but her imagination was likely running its course from spending too much time alone with him. Misaki rolled out of bed, giving the alarm clock a quick knock on the head before sliding out onto the cold floor. She looked out the window finding little evidence that the sun had any intentions of coming out to greet her.

"It's a moral sin to be up before the sun rises." She muttered to herself as she padded out into the living room with Niko close on her heels. Like a puppet going through the motions of a play, she moved to the fridge and pulled out the milk and fish to prepare Niko's breakfast so he would stop looping through her legs. She then walked over to the cupboard and pulled out her own breakfast, showing little enjoyment as she ate it.

Misaki sat in silence, glancing over at her cat who was happily chewing away at the leftover fish on the plate she'd set out. "The life of a cat must be so easy." She said to herself as she finished her meal and cleaned up the dishes. Before she could head to her room to finish getting ready, there came a knock on the front door. She stared at the entrance with a puzzled look. "Who on earth would be at my door this early in the morning?" She mused. Misaki opened the door, to find a very clean cut looking messenger ninja standing at attention.

"Misaki-sama." The young ninja bowed. Misaki always found it a little bizarre how formal messenger ninjas were. The '-sama' honorific seemed a bit much for her.

"Yes?" She asked, resting her head on the door frame for support as she felt the weight of sleep still clinging to her body.

"I have a package for you from Minato-sama." He said, handing her the small pouch. She looked at it with a frown.

"This is such a small delivery, and it says low priority on the tag. Why on earth waste a messenger ninja on something like this when a messenger bird would suffice? They are perfectly capable of carrying something like this." She said, tilting the small package in her hand.

The young ninja looked up at her with a nervous smile. "Yes, that's normally true, but the delivery office has your apartment marked as messenger ninjas only. Apparently there was an incident with a messenger bird getting killed on one delivery to your home."

Misaki's eye twitched slightly. The memory of coming home one evening to a living room full of feathers and a very fat cat crossed her mind. She sighed and looked back at Niko on the kitchen floor, licking the remains of the milk from his face.

"This is why I can't have nice things." She said, half to the ninja and half to the cat, both who stared back at her blankly. Misaki turned back to the ninja. "Thank you. You may go now." She said.

The ninja gave a quick bow and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Misaki looked down at the small package in her hands and began to unwrap it. Inside was a note and a kunai. She read the note.

_Good luck today. I'm sure your team will do great. Just ring if you need me! –Minato_

Misaki couldn't help but smile as she ran her fingers over the markings on the hilt of the kunai. _You've always been there when I've needed you, Minato. _

She slipped the kunai into her traveling pack by the door and then walked back into her bedroom to go take a shower. Once ready to leave, she walked over to Niko who was now soundly asleep on the couch. She gave him a quick pet which got little response and headed out the door.

As she walked down the hall of the apartment building, she slipped a small note under her neighbour's door that said thank you for looking after her cat while she was gone. She then headed down the stairs and out into the empty street. The early morning always seemed so eerie with how abandoned everything looked. The chilly air helped to lift the last remnants of fog from Misaki's half asleep brain and she began to feel her energy levels pick up again. It was good to feel the life come back into her body, for today was going to require every bit of energy she could muster.

"Misaki-chan." came a gruff voice behind her, causing her to nearly jump out of her skin. Misaki spun on her heal but relaxed quickly when she saw who it was.

"Sarutobi-sama." She said, giving a quick bow. "Good morning."

"Good morning." The old man said back with a smile. "You're up awfully early today."

She gave a nod. "As are you." She replied.

Sarutobi gave a chuckle. "Actually, I'm up this early everyday."

"Really?"

The old man gave a nod. "Yes, I enjoy this time of day because it's so peaceful. It's also one of the few times during the day I don't have to worry about talking to the council members." He said, giving her a wink.

Misaki smirked slightly at the comment. "I see."

Sarutobi scratched his chin. "If I recall correctly, you aren't much of a morning person and it's far too early for you to be heading out for your mission today. That really only leaves one reason why you would be out so early now doesn't it?"

Misaki blushed. "You know me too well Sarutobi-sama."

"Would you mind if I came with you?" He asked. "It's been a while for me."

Misaki gave a nod. "Of course, I think he would enjoy the extra company this morning." She said.

The two then headed off down the street, idly chit chatting as they went along. After a while, Sarutobi began to ask about her team.

"They are a great group of kids." She said. "I'm getting more out of being a Jonin teacher than I ever could have imagined."

Sarutobi nodded. "Teaching others is rewarding in that way. Are your students prepared for their journey today?"

Misaki gave a nod. "I don't have a doubt in my mind. They have been working very hard. I have one more test I would like to run them through this morning just to be sure, but there shouldn't be any problems."

"I see." Sarutobi said. "Then perhaps I will come see this test of yours. I don't believe I've seen your team in action yet."

Misaki gave a smile. _You're only coming along to avoid the council members._ She thought.

"They'd be delighted!" She said with an enthusiastic smile.

"Oh. We're here." Sarutobi said, putting his attention back on their location. The two stood in silence for a few minutes, watching the leaves blow through the entranceway. After another moment of silence, Misaki willed her feet to move forward. It got a little easier each time she did this, but the feelings were always the same.

_Fourteen steps forward, turn left down the fifth row, take another six steps forward and it's the first one on your right_. Misaki felt stupid for reciting it in her head, but she been here so many times, she couldn't help but count out the steps now. She turned and looked at the stone marker on the ground before her. The stone had been recently polished and new flowers had been laid out by the village children. They really did an exceptional job caring for this area. The name on the stone had been etched with absolute care and still looked as fresh as the day it had been carved.

_Hatake Sakumo_

Misaki ran her eyes across the name several times and finally lowered herself down to her knees.

"Hello Sakumo." She said softly to the silent stone.

Sarutobi stood behind her at a distance, saying a few silent prayers. As open as Misaki was about what she was doing, he still wanted to respect her personal space with the matter. He had been witness to this ritual before. It didn't matter how big or small the mission was: Any mission where she would leave the village for a period of time, Misaki would come here before hand to talk to Sakumo. It was a sort of bittersweet ritual she had developed since that day.

The young woman pulled the hair away from her eyes. "I'm going on another trip today." She said softly. "And I'm sorry to say, it's not with your son."

Sarutobi took no offence to the words as he knew it wasn't a shot at him. He had been well aware of the young woman's desire to apprentice Kakashi and had nearly allowed it, but in the end he knew there were more important things than fulfilling that wish and one day he knew Misaki would see that as well.

"It's going to be good though. I think you'd find my team very entertaining. They have a lot of spunk, even for kids." She said, pulling a small beaded bracelet out of her shirt pocket. The silver, black and red glinted as she ran her fingers over them. "Don't worry; I'll still make sure Kakashi is alright. He's in good hands with Minato as his teacher. Minato is probably one of the best ninjas in the entire village so he's pretty lucky."

There was a long pause as she continued to stare at the stone in silence. The next words that came off her lips were almost inaudible as she choked back on her tears. "I….I miss you." She said softly clutching the beads in her hand tighter as she felt her chest begin to constrict.

Sarutobi finally approached, sensing the building distress in the young woman. He took a seat beside her and stared at the stone with a sombre expression on his face. "The White Fang really was an admirable man." He said gently.

Misaki didn't look up. "That's not what the local gossip would tell you." She replied in a rather cold tone, keeping her eyes focused on Sakumo's name.

Sarutobi nodded his head. "It's unfortunate what happened. There is no doubt about that. When the world becomes hard or out of control, people have a terrible habit of needing someone to blame for their problems, even if it means condemning a man to his own death. It can take years to build up a reputation as a good man, and it can take mere seconds for someone to come and tear all that hard work back down." Sarutobi leaned forward and placed a hand on the stone. "But those who really know the man will never be able to tear down the fortress he built. That's what I believe."

"It didn't have to be this way." She said softly as she felt the tears starting to come back to her eyes.

"No, it didn't, but it is the way things are, and we cannot change that." Sarutobi said, standing back up. "Letting go of the pain of the past can be difficult, since there is nothing we can do to alter it, but if we don't learn to let go, we will never be able to move forward."

Misaki was finding it harder and harder to hold back the pain. She clenched the beads in her hands tightly, trying to fight back the urge to scream. "You can't just ask me to forget about him." She said, tucking her head down to the side so Sarutobi couldn't see the tears beginning to fall.

Sarutobi placed a gentle hand on her shoulder causing Misaki to look up into the old man's warm eyes. She reached up and brushed the tears off of her cheek as he spoke. "I'm not asking you to forget Sakumo. Someone that is precious to us should never be forgotten." Sarutobi leaned forward and said the next words in a hushed tone. "What I'm asking you to do is let go of the pain and forgive yourself for that which you cannot change. It was never your fault to being with."

Misaki remained silent, but let Sarutobi's words sink in. She took in a couple of deep breaths and slowly felt the tension in her chest begin to lift.

Sarutobi leaned back up and adjusted his hat. "I believe it's time for us to get going. Your students will be waiting for you won't they?" He asked.

Misaki gave a nod, standing up and brushing the remaining tears from her face. She looked back at the stone one last time. "Hai, Sarutobi-sama. Thank you."

Misaki and Sarutobi journeyed across the village, eventually reaching the departure point for team nine. It was a small clearing that was riddled with various stones, ponds and trees. Riko and Koji could be seen sitting on a pair of rocks idly chatting as they waited for their sensei to arrive.

_Where is Gai?_ Misaki thought to herself as they approached the students.

Riko looked over, spotting Misaki. She quickly gave Koji a nudge. "Hey, look! The Hokage came to see us!"

Koji gave a look of surprise. "Really? What on earth could he want with a team of Genin?"

"Maybe this mission is more serious than we first thought." Riko suggested.

"Doubtful." Koji replied, returning his attention to pulling grass out from around the edge of the rock.

Misaki finally reached her students.

"Hello you two." She said with a smile.

"Hello Misaki-sensei." They both said, and then quickly turned their attention to her companion. "Hello Hokoge-sama."

The old man gave them a gentle smile and a wave. "Good morning." He said.

Misaki scanned the area, but still saw no signs of Gai. "Where is our other teammate?" She asked her students.

A combined look of nervousness and embarrassment crossed Riko's face. "We'll you see…" She said running her fingers through her hair.

Koji jumped in. "He said he wanted to surprise you." Koji said with little interest in his voice. He didn't even bother to look up from his weeding.

"Surprise me?" She asked, dubious to whatever it could be.

Riko gave a nod but avoided eye contact. She so did not want to be a part of this right now. "Yeah, he has a surprise for you." She said.

"I see." Misaki said with a smile. "And when is he going to reveal this surprise?"

"Just wait for it." Koji sighed.

Without another word, a booming voice radiated from a nearby treetop. "Sensei! Prepare to be amazed!" the voice cried.

Misaki looked up at the shadowed figure on the branch. The rising sun made it difficult to see him, but she knew it was her student. Gai leapt from the branch and landed with a graceful thud in front of his sensei.

Misaki's jaw dropped, taking in the sight before her. Her heart would have stopped, had it not already ran out her toes and into a hole somewhere.

Sarutobi stared at the student with a bizarre look on his face. _What on earth is he wearing?_

"Tada!" Gai shouted, giving a dramatic pose. "Introducing, the new and improved Maito Gai!"

There was a long pause.

Misaki couldn't believe it. "My…m…m.m.m.m…my…" She pointed in horror.

"Surprise!" said Koji and Riko rather unenthusiastically.

"That…that's my…" Misaki continued to stutter.

Sarutobi looked at Misaki with concern in his eyes. She had become very pale and looked like she might actually faint. "Are you okay Misaki?" He asked.

Gai continued to beam with pride. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner sensei, but I just wanted it to be special. I know how important this suit was to you, but I'll show you that I am capable of living up to your expectations of its wearer." He gave her a big smile and a thumbs up.

Misaki stared on at her fashion sin, now complimented with a pair of fashion don't orange leg warmers. _How on earth had he gotten his hands on it?_ She thought. Her mind then slipped back to the other night with Kushina. _She threw the damn thing out the window! Gai had been there? He'd seen their little performance and thought she was serious? _

"Gai…" She said softly. How was she supposed to tell him how wrong it was to be wearing that thing?

Realizing his sensei must be stunned from his surprise, he turned his attention to the older man beside her. "Hokoge-sama." He said with a bow. "What do you think? Isn't it the best?"

The Hokoge scratched the back of his head nervously and leaned over into Misaki's ear. "Misaki? Is this thing really your creation?" He whispered.

She gave a loud sigh. "Sadly yes. The basic suit is mine, though I never intended for anyone to wear it." She half whimpered to the Hokoge. _This is so embarrassing. _Her mind went back to Sarutobi's wise words earlier in the morning. All her hard work and her reputation as a seamstress were being torn down right before her eyes in mere seconds.

Sarutobi looked back at the students in front of him. The pride on Gai's face was unmistakable. This boy really admired his teacher and was doing everything he could to impress her. Sarutobi contemplated telling the young boy the truth about the outfit, though it looked like Misaki was working out in her head how to tell him herself.

Misaki finally spoke. "Gai, you shouldn't be wearing that." Was all she could say.

Gai's face slowly turned from its untamed enthusiasm to slight concern. Had he really blown it? Was she really that mad?

Sarutobi saw the look on Gai's face and felt his chest clench up a little. It was hard to look at his sad expression. Misaki was about to break this poor boy's heart.

"See Fuzzy Eyebrows. I told you that thing was ridiculous." Koji smirked. Riko remained silent and continued to avoid looking at the display.

Gai turned back to Koji with fire in his eyes. "You don't know anything!" He snapped. "Misaki-sensei made this suit for a special ninja and I'm going to show her I can be that ninja!" He turned his attention back to Misaki. "Misaki-sensei, I know I should have asked you before I took it but please understand. I will show you I'm good enough for this suit." He brought his head down into a bow and waited for a response.

Misaki was stunned. She'd never imagined a scenario even remotely like this one. She was about to speak again when she felt Sarutobi's hand on her shoulder. She looked over at the smiling man.

"Misaki, I am amazed at just how much admiration your students have for you. That they would be willing to go to such lengths to improve themselves and at such a young age too!" He said.

Gai's looked up with surprise. His teammates followed suit.

"He has clearly been working hard to become better as a ninja. Hard work and determination should certainly be rewarded don't you think?" Sarutobi asked the stunned woman next to him.

"Sarutobi-sensei…" She said, still taken back by his words.

Sarutobi leaned over to her ear again and whispered. "It's clear this means a lot to him. As much as you might regret the making of this suit, it couldn't hurt to support him. It's likely only a phase and he will grow out of it."

Misaki gave a nod turned back to Gai and took a deep breath.

_It's not so bad. Okay, so it violates every rule I have when it comes to clothing, fashion and just general social appeal, but hey, I'm a teacher, teachers make sacrifices all the time right? If it means so much to him…I…I can say it's okay. Oh my god why did he choose orange legwarmers, he looks like a carrot! Now Misaki…breathe…breathe…_

"Gai." She said.

The young boy stared on at her. "Yes sensei?"

"I….I…I hope you can live up to my expectations." She said, though it was a little forced.

Gai felt his emotions begin to bubble up and out of himself. "Sensei!" He cried and ran forward, wrapping his arms around her waist. "Don't worry sensei…I won't let you down!" He said as he held her in a tight embrace.

She looked down at him with surprise and smiled. "I don't doubt it." She said, placing her hand on his head.

Riko and Koji stared on, unable to accept what they'd just seen.

_She just okayed that thing?_ Koji thought. _Has sensei lost her mind?_

_Is it really a powerful suit? That can't be right. _Riko thought.

Sarutobi gave a smile. "Well, now that the surprise is out of the way, perhaps it's time to move on to more important things." He said.

Gai finally detached himself from his teacher and wiped the remnants of tears from his eyes.

"Yes, your right." Misaki said, smoothing the ruffles out of her shirt. "All of you please come here."

The group of young students approached her.

"Today is a special day for team nine. Today will be your first opportunity to do a mission outside of the village." She said.

The three student's eyes lit up with excitement. "Really? We finally get a mission outside the village?" Riko beamed with excitement.

Misaki gave a nod. "That's right. But before we can go, I need to make sure that you are fully prepared for what we are about to do." Misaki walked over to one of the taller trees in the clearing. "The other day I had you working on your chakra control, I trust that you managed to perform the tree climbing exercises without any problems?" She asked.

"Hai sensei. We had no trouble with that exercise." Gai replied.

Misaki gave a smile. "Excellent. Please demonstrate for me then."

The young ninjas walked up to the tree Misaki was standing by. They stood silently for a few moments collecting their chakra and then as a unit, walked up different sides of the tree. Eventually they came to high enough branches and each took a seat.

Sarutobi smiled. "My they work well together don't they?" He said to Misaki.

Misaki smiled. They were working very well together today. She had a feeling part of that had to do with the audience though.

"Great work team. You can come down." She said.

The three ninjas ran back down and stood before their teacher.

"So are we ready to go then sensei?" Gai asked.

She shook her head. "Not quite. I need you to demonstrate one more skill for me." Misaki now walked over to the other side of the clearing. "Walking up the tree is fairly easy; it's a matter of bringing the appropriate amount of chakra to your feet in order to stick to the side." Misaki began to approach a small pond on the edge of the clearing and casually walked out onto it. "But being able to walk on water requires more concentration. You must be able to bring the right amount of chakra to your feet, but you must also adjust it as needed to make sure you can float. Our mission will require excellent chakra control, so I need you to demonstrate this ability before we can go."

The students seemed to be thinking the task over. "So it's a matter of adjusting the chakra as needed to prevent you from sinking." Koji said. "Seems straightforward enough."

"We'll, let's give it a try." Riko chimed in.

The three ninjas approached the pond and analyzed it for a second.

"Perhaps we should try this one at a time, so the others can observe and learn from their mistakes." Koji suggested. "We didn't cover this in our training the other day."

"Good idea." Riko said.

"Alright, I'll go first!" Gai said and started walking towards the pond. "I'll show you just how great this suit really is!"

"Gai, wait. You haven't…" Riko called after him.

Splash

"Concentrated your chakra yet." She finished.

Gai pulled himself out of the water. His teammates stared at him with dubious looks on their faces as he began to laugh. "See, the water beads right off of it!" He said, shaking from side to side.

Koji shook his head. "Idiot." He muttered.

Riko put her head down. "Please don't shake your hips like that." She shuddered.

Gai returned his attention to the pond. Now it was time to be serious. Gai concentrated the chakra as he did before and then focused carefully as he walked out onto the water. He felt himself begin to submerge a little bit but focused on adjusting the energies in his feet and he felt himself lift back out of the water. Gai beamed a big smile over to his teammates.

"I did it! This is easy. Come on you two! It's so easy!"

Riko and Koji looked at one another and then walked over to the pond. They concentrated their chakra and cautiously walked out onto the water. Riko braced herself to fall through but found it never happened. She looked up at Gai with surprise.

"Wow, it really is easy." She said.

Koji nodded.

_It's probably thanks to Gai making us do that extra two hours of practice the other day. _Koji thought, though he would never admit it out loud.

Misaki felt pride bubble up from her stomach as she looked at her students on the water.

_They really are amazing. _She thought.

Sarutobi gave a laugh. "Well my dear, it seems to me you've done a great job with this team. Taking you on as a Jonin teacher has really proven to be a wise decision." He said, and then turned his attention to the students. "But I also know the details of this mission and it might be helpful to add one more factor into this test of yours." He added.

Misaki gave him a confused look. Sarutobi leaned over and whispered something in her ear. Her eyes lit up with the revelation. "You're absolutely right. How silly of me." She said.

She then walked over to the side of the pond and knelt down. "Very good team, now I'm going to change your terrain a little bit so please prepare yourselves, you'll need to concentrate hard with what I'm about to do." She said.

The students gave her a worried look but took to focusing on chakra control even harder than before. Misaki dipped her hands into the water and concentrated on letting her chakra flow out of her palms. Suddenly, the water began to swirl and wave beneath the student's feet.

"Whoa…" Riko said, as she began to sway. It was much harder to adjust the chakra with the water moving so much. The water began to shift and Riko finally lost her balance. She braced herself for the inevitable splash but then felt a strong hand grab her by the wrist. She looked up to see Gai clutching onto her. "Don't fall yet Riko." He said, while trying to keep his own balance.

She gave a nod, and corrected herself. Once rebalanced, she attempted to let go of Gai's arm but the moment the pair separated they felt their balance failing them again. Koji was not having any more luck as he swayed with the water. Koji felt his balance slipping and began to fall. Gai reached out for Koji who swatted him away. "Don't touch me you dork!" He hissed.

"As you wish." Gai replied and watched his teammate hit the water hard. Koji sputtered back up through the surface and glared at the green suited boy above him giving a devious grin. "Looks like I out balance you huh?" He smiled. Koji glared again and pulled himself out of the water.

Gai and Riko continued to sway, occasionally grabbing onto one another to rebalance, but overall managed to not fall in. Misaki looked over at Sarutobi with a questioning look on her face. "Well?" She asked.

"I think they are ready. Do Konoha proud today you three!" He shouted.

"Yes sir!" Gai said, giving him a salute.

"Gai! Don't let go!"

Splash Splash

Team nine finally made their journey out the large main gates of Konoha. There was no one there to wave them off, yet the feeling in the air was that of a great ceremony occurring as they strolled through the entrance of their village. The excitement that was brimming in Gai was barely being contained. Today was a big deal. That the village trusted them enough to journey outside for a mission was a big step.

The walk was fairly quiet, with the odd conversation. They walked at a normal pace, as Misaki reassured them, there was no rush to get to the destination point, and it would be best to save their energy, as much as Gai tried to argue.

As they continued to walk down the road, Gai decided to take the opportunity to try and talk with Riko. He casually adjusted his pace until he was standing beside her. Riko took brief notice of him but did not say anything. Gai was about to start the conversation when he felt something hard hit him in the hip. Thrown from him pace, he looked over to see that Koji had hip checked him out of the way and was now standing in his place. Riko took a brief note of her new walking partner but continued to say nothing. She wanted nothing to do with this.

Gai, now infuriated, ran up behind Koji and hipped checked him back. Koji frowned as he was knocked from position. Koji then proceeded to catch up, grab Gai by the wrist and pull him back out of the way. Gai finally snapped.

"That's it No Eyes!" He shouted.

"Bring it on Fuzzy Eyebrows!" Koji barked back.

The two then began taking swings at one another. Riko gave a debilitated sigh but kept walking forward. The boys continued to beat on each other but were brought out of their brawl by the sensation of something hard hitting them. The boys paused and grabbed their heads, rubbing the spot that was now throbbing with a dull pain. They looked over to find Misaki standing with one hand on her hip and the other one tossing a rock up and down.

"I knew the peace was too good to last." She sighed. "Will two stop fighting, or do I have to knock some more sense into you?" She said matter-of-factly, eyeing the rock in her hand.

The two boys bowed briefly. "Sorry sensei." They took a moment to glare at one another and then continued on their way. Riko was now up next to Misaki as a passive method to stop the boys from fighting. Misaki noticed Riko staring at her intently.

"What is it Riko?" She asked.

The young girl turned away and blushed slightly, realizing she'd been caught staring. "Oh, it's just…your tattoos." She said, pointing at the intricate designs on the insides of Misaki's arms. "I've never seen anything like it before."

Misaki looked down and ran her fingers over the markings. "Oh, what…these things?" I've had them for years." She replied.

Gai had now approached the other side of their teacher and was examining them as well. "Do they have a purpose?" He asked.

Misaki smiled. "Yes, but I'm afraid I can't tell you." She said.

Gai frowned. "Why not?" He asked.

"Because then I'd have to kill you." She smiled evilly.

Gai paled slightly and backed away.

Misaki laughed. "I'm kidding! But I'm still not going to tell you. They are a secret I don't tend to share with just anybody."

"Why not?" Gai asked.

"Because a good ninja always hides their best secrets for the serious battles." She replied.

Gai now became excited. "Oh, I see! So it's some sort of weapon!" He said, pulling out his book and writing down a few notes.

He then looked up at his teachers arm again. "What about that one?" He said, pointing to the one on her upper shoulder.

Koji snorted. "You seriously don't know what that marking is?" He scoffed at Gai.

Gai turned back with a glare. "I wouldn't ask if I did." He snapped.

Misaki looked at the young boy trailing behind them. "Not everyone in the village actually knows what this marking means Koji. You of course would know what it means because your father has one as well correct?"

Koji huffed and looked off to the side.

"Koji, your father was an ANBU too?" Riko asked.

"Of course he was. My father is an elite ninja." He replied, giving them a smug look.

"Not all elites end up being ANBU Koji. It takes a very specific type of person to survive as an ANBU." Misaki said.

"So why aren't you an ANBU now Misaki-sensei?" Riko asked.

"ANBU life is very difficult. Not many people stay in that line of work for more than a few years." She replied. "I've done all I can for that service and now it's time for me to move on and help in other ways." She said.

"So now you're helping us? Wow, I knew you were a powerful sensei but I didn't realize you were that powerful!" Gai beamed. He really was a lucky guy.

Misaki laughed in response.

Gai pumped his fist. "Now not only am I the youngest student to graduate from our class, but now I have one of the most powerful senseis as the leader for my team!" He cheered.

Riko thought it over for a second then gave him a quizzical look. "Gai, you weren't the youngest person to graduate in our class." She said.

Gai looked over at Riko with a shocked expression. "What? I was so!"

Koji had now caught up with the rest of the group. "Nope." He added.

"Yes I did. I'm younger than you two. Ryota was the next youngest in the class besides me!"

"You're forgetting someone." Riko said. "What about Anko?"

"What about Anko? She told me she was 10. I asked everyone in the class. I'm the youngest!" He demanded.

"Oh, I think she must have lied to you. She's almost a year younger than you I think." Riko said. "I'd know. I went to her birthday party."

"What?" Gai cried loudly. "No! I've been deceived! Oh cruel fate!"

"Gai, stop being so dramatic. What does it matter if you weren't the youngest?" Misaki asked, watching the display unfold out of the corner of her eye.

"It was everything! My father will never let me live down this shame." He said dropping to his knees. The group stopped to look at the boy crying on the ground. Riko hung her head in embarrassment.

"Gai! Gai! Calm down!" Misaki said placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. "At least you're the youngest BOY to graduate from the class."

Gai looked up with a sniffle. "I am?" He asked.

Misaki nodded. "Yep. There were no younger boys in the class correct?" She said looking at Riko with hopeful eyes.

Riko thought for a moment then nodded. "Yes. I don't think there was anyone else."

Gai's eyes began to light up again.

"You see Gai. Your father won't be disappointed in you." Misaki continued to reassure him.

"It still doesn't make him the youngest." Koji added. Misaki knocked Koji once on the head. "Ow."

"Shut up. I need to get him to stop crying or we'll never get this mission going." Misaki hissed. She turned her attention back to the space that Gai had been previously filling only to find him missing. She turned to see the young boy now in front of them, his hands on his hips with a big smile on his face.

"Mwa hahaha!" Gai shouted. "Your right Misaki-sensei. I am the youngest boy in the class!" He started to march forward, turning back when he noticed his teammates were not following him. They looked on, like stunned deer at the boy in front of them. "Well come on everyone. Our mission won't keep waiting for us! Let's go!" He said, raising a fist into the air and then parading on ahead.

Misaki sweat dropped. _This boy can flip emotions faster than Niko._

The journey to the meeting point took about two days. They finally arrived early in the morning on the third day and Gai took in a deep breath of the fresh air. "Wow! Look at all that water!"

"It's the sea you idiot." Koji said, walking past him

"I know it's the sea you jerk." He snapped back.

"Would you two shut up?" Riko snapped. She'd had enough of their bickering over the last two days. Her head was starting to hurt.

Misaki was scanning the coast line. "Now where is our contact?" She muttered.

Her eyes darted along the coast and finally landed on the large ship anchored to a makeshift dock about a mile away. "There." She said pointing.

The group continued down the shore and reached the rather pristine looking ship. "I've never seen such a large ship before." Riko awed.

"We'll this is a one of a kind ship my dear." came a voice from the upper desk. The group looked up to see a rather brightly dressed man with and large moustache looking down at them. "Ahoy!" He shouted.

The man wore bight purples and yellows and had a long green feather sticking out of his hat. Misaki cringed.

_Does no one in this world have any fashion sense?_

"Hello!" Misaki yelled back up. "We're the ninja team sent from Konoha as requested. My name is Kurakumo Misaki."

"I see." The man said. He disappeared from the visible edge of the boat for a second and then came leaping over the banister. He landed with an exaggerated pirouette on the ground by her side. "My name is Waku. I am the captain of this vessel." He lifted Misaki's hand up to his lips. "It is wonderful to meet such a beautiful lady." He winked.

Misaki pulled her hand free from his grasp, grossed out by the sensation of his bristly moustache on the top of her hand. "That's sweet but I'm taken." She said quickly.

"Really Misaki-sensei? I thought you said you were si-" Gai started to say, but was quickly silenced by a hand wrapping around his mouth.

Misaki laughed nervously. "And this is my team Maito Gai, Huuyga Koji and Kienso Riko." She said.

Waku examined the group of children in front of him. "They're so young." He muttered with a look of disapproval on his face.

"We'll, the papers indicate that this is a C grade mission. A Genin team should be perfectly acceptable for the job then." She replied. "Unless of course you would like to pay for a B rank mission, then I can make the arrangements for you."

Waku put up his hands in defence. "Oh no. No this will be fine. Welcome aboard everyone!" He said, leading them onto the ship.

_That's what I thought you cheapskate. _

The team all boarded onto the ship. The deck was large and looking around, there appeared to be about 8 more crew members besides Waku the captain. The boat swayed slightly with the waves causing the students to shimmy a little as they adjusted to the new movement.

"Crew! This is the ninja team that will be helping us with our shipment. Be sure to treat them well as they are doing us a big service by being here." Waku ordered.

"Aye aye sir!" They shouted back.

Waku turned his attention back to Misaki. "There will be cabin rooms arranged for you on the lower deck. If you are a lady who needs a little more luxury however, I can have it arranged for an extra bed to be put in the captain's room. It's very spacious and we have collected an array of silks over the years that are quite exquisite!" He smiled.

_Is that what you used to make that ungodly looking outfit?_

"That's okay. I think it would be best that I stay with my team." She replied, making sure to keep the distance good and wide from the captain. Waku sighed as his attempts failed again.

"Very well. We shall be heading out in an hour. It will likely take a few days to reach the island." Waku said.

"Misaki-sensei. What exactly are we doing on this ship?" Riko asked. Normally Misaki was good about giving them the details of their missions right away, but she'd been holding back on this one.

Misaki looked down at the young girl. "This is a cargo ship that needs to make a delivery to a place called Tobico Island. Cargo ships like this often get raided by other passing ships, so sometimes they will hire on ninjas as added security, especially if it is an important shipment."

Waku nodded. "And this is a very important shipment. Our client is paying us very well and expects that the delivery be taken with the utmost care. He was so worried; he even came along for the ride." Waku laughed.

Gai looked at him quizzically. "Who's the client?" He asked.

"That would be me." came a gruff voice from behind them. The group turned to look at where the voice was coming from. "Hello. My name is Nikame. Nice to meet you."

"You're…" Riko said.

"You're…" Koji repeated.

"A turtle." Gai finished.

END OF CHAPTER 6

Ended on a mild cliffy, but it seemed like a good place to stop. Hope everyone is having a good holiday break. I know I am. :-)


	7. Chapter 7 The Great Turtle Shipment

History of Konoha's Noble Green Beast

CHAPTER 7

Gai stared in awe at the sight before him. He had heard about ninja animals before, but he had never actually been witness to one. Ninkame was a very large turtle. He resembled a cranky old man, with skin that was as rough as the look he was giving them.

"Amazing." Koji, Gai and Riko murmured.

Ninkame had not been expecting such a strange response from the ninjas and tilted his head slightly, with a look of amusement in his eyes. "What's the matter with you little squirts? You never seen a turtle before?" He asked.

Riko gave a curt bow. "Forgive us. It's just…we have never seen a speaking turtle before." She explained.

"I apologize for my team staring Ninkame-san. A lot of what they are witnessing today is very new to them." Misaki tried to explain.

The turtle looked annoyed and turned to Waku. "Are you telling me you hired a bunch of rookies to take care of my precious cargo?" The turtle asked.

Waku laughed nervously. "Please Ninkame-sama. Your cargo is safe I promise. We have taken all the necessary precautions..."

Ninkame did not seem to be buying it so Misaki interjected. "We are from the Hidden Leaf village of Konoha. Only the best of ninjas are raised there and I can assure you your cargo will be safe under our care." She explained.

"As long as it all makes it there in one piece I don't care. Just see that is does." said Ninkame with a displeased huff.

"Yes sir! It will be done." Waku bowed and headed off towards the ship's helm. "Alright men. Let's start moving out!"

"Aye aye sir!" The crew replied, and immediately got to work.

Misaki felt a gentle tug on the edge of her shirt. She looked down to find Gai giving her a quizzical look.

"What is it Gai?" She asked.

He pointed at the turtle. "I'm confused how Ninkame-san is the client." He said.

"How is that?" She asked back.

"We'll…I didn't think turtles had money. So how is he paying for this shipment? Also, why would a turtle need to ship anything?" He asked.

Before Misaki could answer, the turtle cut her off. "I'm not your run of the mill pond turtle kid. I work just like everyone else. I assist different ninjas that need it and in return, they help me with situations like this. As for the contents of the cargo, it's none of your business and I better not find you poking around trying to look at it." He snapped.

Misaki gave a smile. "Don't worry Ninkame-san. My students will not go near your shipment. I promise. Right team?"

"Hai!"

"Good." She smiled at them. "Feel free to wander the ship, but be ready and report anything that looks suspicious." The students nodded and dispersed around the boat. Gai had stayed behind and was still staring at the turtle.

Ninkame frowned. "Is this one broken or something?" He asked.

Misaki looked down and gave Gai a gentle tap. "Don't stare Gai, it's rude."

The little boy shook from his daze then quickly bowed. "Sorry, I didn't realize. It's just…I've always really liked turtles and I've never seen one this big before."

"Ha ha! I am a pipsqueak compared to my old man. You obviously haven't seen many turtles." He replied.

"Also…what is with his name?" Gai asked Misaki, his curiosity getting the better of him.

The turtle looked annoyed. "What's wrong with my name?"

"It just doesn't seem right to me."

"Gai, you're being rude!" Misaki chastised. "I'm sorry Ninkame-san."

The turtle gave what looked like a grin. "It's okay, your student is actually somewhat observant. No, Ninkame isn't my real name. My given name can't be spoken by human tongue so I just picked that one for simplicity." He explained.

"But why Ninkame? There are so many better names for turtles." Gai said.

"Because that is what I am." The turtle growled back. This kid asked too many questions for his liking.

"I mean, I've been asking my parents for a pet turtle forever. If I got one, he could have a name like Shells or Kameko…" Gai rambled. Misaki stared on in horror, as her student unintentionally insulted the turtle.

"Don't talk about me like I'm a pet kid. I'm a trained and deadly fighter just like the rest of my family." He replied.

"You are a fighter? So other ninjas summon you to fight?" Gai was even more interested in the turtle now.

"Back in the day, yes I did. I'm too old for that sort of thing now though."

"I see…then if you are not too busy, is there any chance you could be my summon?" Gai asked without skipping a beat.

"Oh, good grief." Misaki said, running a hand down her face.

Ninkame gave out a loud laugh. "My my, you don't know a damn thing about talking with ninja animals do you? You need to learn to show more respect to your elders kiddo. I may be old but if I felt like it I could send you to the bottom of the sea before you would even blink."

Gai paled a little. It appeared he was getting off on a bad foot with this turtle already. "I don't just work with any little snot nosed kid who asks me, and you don't seem at all the type of person I would want to work with anyways. Grow some flippers before you try to swim."

At this point, Misaki was now pulling Gai away. "I'm so sorry Ninkame-san. I will educate my student on proper etiquette for next time. Please forgive him. He's young." She rambled nervously as she ushered the young boy away. _Gai is going to get us fired at this rate._

Just then, a soft voice came from behind Ninkame. "Grandpa? What's all the noise?"

The older turtle's face suddenly softened at the sound of the voice, as if it had a trance like effect on him. He did not bother to turn around, but addressed the voice anyways. "Go back to sleep, Babarusu. It's nothing to worry about." He said.

The sound of shuffling could now be heard behind Ninkame. "But there is so much noise. I want to see!" The little voice replied. Soon, a small head popped out from behind Ninkame and climbed up onto his shell. The turtle was much smaller and had a red shell and bright yellow eyes. He looked at all the people around and gave a smile. "Hello." He said.

"It's soooo cute!" Gai cried.

Misaki, grabbed Gai by the collar of his jumpsuit to prevent him from approaching the turtle. "Get a hold of yourself!" She snapped. Misaki shook her head and sighed. _I thought of all my students Riko would have gotten excited over the cute little turtle, not Gai._

"This is my grandson Babarusu. He is also a part of my precious cargo. I want you to make sure he is okay on this journey." The turtle said, addressing Misaki.

"Babarusu is an awesome turtle name! See, that's the sort of name you give a turtle!" Gai continued rambling and pulling against his restraints.

"Shut up!" Misaki hissed, giving her student a conk on the head to calm him down. The little turtle gave a huff.

"Grandpa! Don't baby me! I can't defend myself." He demanded.

The old turtle gave a laugh. "I'll let you defend yourself when you can manage to keep right side up in a riptide." He said, looking up towards the back of his shell.

The little turtle continued to pout. "I only turned over once last time." He muttered.

The pair of turtles turned around and went back into the cargo hold, leaving Gai and Misaki alone. She shook her head again. "You really need to keep yourself a little more in check Gai. We need to be professionals here."

Gai knew his sensei was displeased with him. "I'm very sorry sensei; it was just such a cool looking turtle."

"That doesn't mean you can just go around trying to maul the poor thing." She replied.

He gave her a nod. "It won't happen again. It's just…"

"What?"

"How am I supposed to get a summon without making them mad?"

Misaki shook her head. "Gai, you need to stop rushing things. Just because you don't have a summon doesn't make you weak." She directed Gai to take a seat on a barrel nearby. "I'm happy you're so motivated to work hard to become stronger, but you need to understand that all things have a time and place. Not to mention you really need to be more polite when talking to ninja animals." She laughed a little.

Gai blushed from embarrassment. "He did get pretty mad." He said.

"We'll, he should have. You were treating him like a lesser creature. Ninja animals like to be recognized as equals. Heck, many ninja animals can rival human ninjas with their power. Try treating them more like people. You must always be respectful to them." She added.

"That makes sense." He said. "Alright, I'll try to be more respectful."

"Good. I'm glad." She smiled. "And Gai, just relax about the summon thing. You're getting stronger every day, I can see it. Just work at what is reasonable right now and the other things will come."

He gave a nod and hopped off to find his other teammates. "Thank you sensei!"

Once Gai had disappeared somewhere else on the ship, Misaki finally relaxed. She placed her head against the post she had been sitting next to and closed her eyes. _This kid is going to kill himself if he keeps trying to overdo everything…that is if he doesn't kill me first with his behavior._

The ship continued on course all through the afternoon. The skies were bright blue and there was little sign of storms approaching. The waves were high, but the large ship was having very little trouble cutting through the waters toward the island. Gai was now wandering around the ship with nothing to do. He finally came across his teammate who was staring over the railing.

"Koji, what's so interesting?" He asked on his approach. His eyes then lit up. "Are there more sea creatures following the ship?" _Maybe other ninja animals! _He ran up excitedly and peered over, only to find the deep blue color of the bottomless looking waters and the rippling foam of waves hitting the side of the boat. The young boy frowned. "What's so interesting about a bunch of waves?" He asked looking over at his teammate.

Koji turned to look at Gai. His fair features were an unusual shade of pale green.

"Koji?" Gai asked.

"I….I…" Koji forced himself to say while clutching his stomach. "I hate boats." He finished and turned his attention back to the water.

"What? How can you hate boats? It's so exciting with the big wide seas and all the waves. The way the boat goes back and forth, side to side, swaying and weaving."

Koji's features became even greener. "Shut up." He hissed, clutching the railing.

"Koji, you're being such a poor sport. Try to have some fun! It's our first mission outside the village." Gai said with a big smile, giving his teammate a slap on the back.

The surprise jolt to his back sent Koji off the deep end. He clutched the edge of the railing tighter and let his lunch loose on the open sea. Gai pulled away and looked at him with a grossed out expression. "Koji, you need to learn how to hold down your lunch better." He said.

"Go, to hell." Koji panted between breaths.

"Oh, ho ho. Check it out boys, the little tadpole hasn't got his sea legs yet!" A crew member shouted. Laughs erupted from across the ship causing Koji to hang his head in humiliation.

Gai trying to be as kind as possible gave his teammate a big smile. "Don't worry Koji, your body will get used to all the swaying and heaving eventually. Why, I don't even notice the rocking anymore."

"Would you stop talking about how the boat is moving?" Koji yelled, just before hanging over the side again.

"Gai, maybe you should let Koji have some space." Misaki suggested from her spot perched on a barrel. She was working away on another beaded necklace from her pouch, but had been quietly watching the performance unfold.

Gai gave a shrug. He reached out to pat his teammate on the back again to comfort him but rethought the move based on the previous results. He walked around the ship for a while looking for Riko, but could not seem to find her. Frustrated, he finally looked up and spotted her. Riko was actually sitting up on a support beam for the main sail. She was staring off into the vast waters in a dazed dreamlike state. Gai climbed the post and sat next to her.

"Looks like it's going to be a pretty boring mission." He said, kicking his feet out into the open air.

Riko gave a shrug. "I don't see anything wrong with that." She replied, continuing to stare off into space.

Gai frowned. "How can you be happy just sitting here doing nothing?" He asked.

She let out a small sigh and pulled the locks of blonde hair away from her eyes. "I suppose it is a little boring here." She said. "But we have to be ready just in case."

"Well…how about we play a game then?" Gai suggested.

"Didn't you hear Misaki earlier? We have to be professional. Playing games would probably get us into trouble." She said.

"Not if they are training exercises." Gai grinned, giving her a thumbs up.

Riko frowned. _What is with this kid and always wanting to do training exercises?_

"Maybe some other time….uh…we should probably conserve our energy." She said nervously.

Gai nodded. "That makes sense." Gai looked back to the horizon and realized that the sun was on it's decent downward for the night. His eyes grew wide. _Ha! A sunset! I can sit and watch the sunset with Riko! That's supposed to be one of the most romantic things you can do with a girl! Koji won't stand a chance if I do something like that._

"Then I guess we should just sit here and do nothing." Gai shrugged.

Riko glanced over at the boy questioningly. He'd moved a little closer and was grinning like an idiot. _What is he up to?_

She then looked forward and put the pieces together. "Oh crap." She hissed, noticing the position of the sun. She then stood up and laughed nervously. "Hey, you know what? I'm suddenly feeling much more awake. Maybe one training exercise wouldn't hurt." She said.

Gai leapt up as well, now very excited. "Really? Great! Then lets do 500 laps running on the outside of the boat!"

_500 laps? He's got to be kidding! _"Wow, that seems like a lot..." She said.

"We'll if you're not feeling up to it…We could always go back to sitting." Gai shrugged.

"No…no…no…I'll be fine." Riko said waving her hands in front of her. _Anything but that._

"There is no time for that!" came a voice from below on the deck. The two students looked down to find Misaki looking up at them. "It's to the east." She pointed.

The two looked and noticed a ship headed in their direction. Riko sighed with relief and turned back at her teacher. _I've been saved!_

"Is it a threat?" Riko asked.

"Not sure, but Waku has asked us to be prepared just in case, so come down and prepare yourselves." Misaki ordered.

The two students did as they were asked and came down to the main deck. Gai was bouncing slightly. "This is great! We might actually get to fight!" He cheered.

"Don't get excited yet. The ship is still a long ways away and we don't know if they are just passing by." Riko warned.

Gai did not care. He was hopeful that their passing would be something interesting. Everyone continued with his or her tasks on the ship. Riko had now taken to sitting next to Misaki on the barrels while they waited. Koji was laying on his back on the deck recovering. His face was finally starting to return to its normal color; though it was clear, he still wished to be left alone.

Gai however, was on the edge of the ship's railing, staring down the approaching vessel. He could not wait to see what would happen. The ship took nearly an hour to get within reach. "Get ready everyone, its coming!" He cheered.

His teammates rose up, with little enthusiasm and were now standing next to him. "Gai, don't get your hopes up. It is likely another cargo ship on a crossing route." Misaki said.

Gai was not listening; he watched the ship as it drew closer and began to pass along behind their ship. He ran across the deck, following it as it went along. The ship had to be twice the size of their own! He continued to focus on the ship, analyzing all parts of it for any movement that indicated a threat. Any signs that he could jump across to their ship and show them who was boss. Something had to happen…it just had to!

But nothing did.

The ship passed by with not a single exciting event other than creating a small change in the rocking pattern of their boat as the wake from the vessel met there's. Gai frowned and turned to slump against the railing. _This sucks_. He thought. Misaki approached him with a smile. "I told you not to get your hopes up Gai…this sort of thing—"

Before Misaki could finish her sentence, the ship lurched violently forward, causing her to topple over. Quickly shaking off the jolt, she leapt to her feet and ran to the captain's wheel. "What was that?" She asked.

Waku looked stunned as he clutched to the wheel. Shaking off the initial shock, he turned his attention to the crow's nest with a glare.

"Oi! What the hell? I thought you said it was clear waters!" He shouted to the poor little man up on the perch.

"It was…this…this is unnatural." He replied, still gawking at the front of the boat. "These rocks…they just. They just came up out of nowhere!"

Waku turned to his first mate. "Take the wheel, I have to check this." The first mate quickly took hold of the wheel. Misaki and Waku then ran to the front of the boat and peered over the edge. Sure enough, jagged large rocks were now sticking up out of the darkest, deepest looking water they had ever seen. The rocks were more than visible; they were sticking directly out of the water! No seasoned lookout would have missed them.

"I may be old, but I ain't blind Captain. Those things grew out of nowhere!" The crow's nest member shouted down. Waku looked on bewildered. He had never seen anything like it. Misaki had though; she knew exactly what this was. "Earth-jutsu." She whispered to herself. This was bad.

"Oi! Captain, the ship. She's turning around!" shouted another crew member.

Everyone looked over and sure enough, the silent ship that had passed them by was now redirecting itself and heading straight back for them. "Not good at all." Misaki muttered. "Captain. Are your men armed?" She asked.

Waku nodded. "Each one carries at least a sword on hand."

"Good…they're going to need it." She said and then took off to the center of the ship where her team sat in confusion. "You three, you are to go down by the cargo hold door and make sure Ninkame, Babarusu and the cargo is safe."

Gai frowned. "But sensei, I want to help fight the people in the ship." He demanded.

"The cargo is more important right now Gai. We don't know what we're up against and that is the priority. For now, stick to the plan. Got it?" She said.

The students nodded. At this point, the old turtle and his grandson were now coming out of the cargo hold. "What's going on?" Ninkame demanded.

"Attackers!" Gai cheered. "Don't worry, we'll take care of them."

"Grandpa! Let me fight with them! I can do it." Babarusu demanded. The old turtle shook his head.

"No way child, it's too dangerous. Go back inside." He replied.

"No. I want to see what is going on." The little turtle demanded.

Ninkame sighed. He knew this was a losing argument, so he let his grandson stay. "Just stay on my back then." He grumbled.

The strange boat had now reached them and was lined up with their stalled ship. Hooks and grapples launched over the edge, connecting with the railings. Finally, a large plank board bridged the two and within a matter of moments, a group of sailors crossed the plank. A woman dressed in blues and whites with a very thin frame led the way. She looked regal and refined. Behind her stood three crew members that looked far from regal or refined giving an unusual contrast. She glanced at the ship's crew before her.

"My my, we certainly picked a winner." She drawled, voice dripping with sarcasm.

"What is the meaning of this?" Waku said, now approaching the woman.

"I am Lady Nanami and I will be taking this ship and its contents." She smiled while addressing everyone on the ship.

"I'm afraid I can't allow that." Waku replied with a glare. "My client would be very upset."

"I see. Such a shame. We'll tell your client I am very sorry but business is business and I must keep on schedule." She said giving him a haughty look.

"We'll actually; you are going to be delayed a tad." Misaki said, stepping out from behind a post. She had covered her Konoha waist sash with some purple fabric she had found on the deck. Keeping her identity hidden for the first little bit, would hopefully be to their advantage.

The woman looked at her with an intense glare. "You have a woman on your ship? How deplorable." She scoffed.

"You are a woman on your ship," replied Misaki. "How is it so deplorable for me to be on this one?"

"For more reasons than I care to share with you…but enough chatter. I think it's time I took what is mine." She said, reaching for the hilt of her sword. Before she could even fully grasp the handle, she felt a cold piece of steel on her throat and the sensation of static on the back of her hair making her blood run cold.

"I'm afraid I just can't allow that." Misaki said, holding the blade tighter to her throat.

Waku gave a chuckle. "Oh dear where are my manners. Lady Nanami, this is Misaki. She is a ninja helping me out this afternoon. Misaki, this is Nanami, she'd trying to rob my ship."

"Pleasure to meet you." Misaki hissed as she pressed the blade tighter to the woman's throat.

"The pleasure is all mine my dear." She replied shaking off the initial shock. There was very little fear in the woman's voice now and it was starting to make Misaki angry. "You think you're the only soul with connections to the ninja villages Captain Waku?" Lady Nanami laughed.

Misaki looked over her shoulder to see the set of three men standing behind her starting to pull away at sashes they had been wearing.

"I was hoping not to have to use these gentlemen as the additional costs will be hell on my budget, but alas, I seem to have no choice. I'd like you to meet my team of rock ninjas." She cooed.

Misaki glared. The three men that had been following Lady Nanami fully removed their hats and sashes, revealing the rock symbol headbands. Her instinct had been dead on. This was getting very dangerous now. Rock Ninjas were probably one of the largest enemies to the Leaf Village and these ninjas were certainly older than her team. Probably at least all Chuunin rank from what she could tell, which meant she could not afford to let them get into a battle with her students, as it would be suicide.

One of the rock ninjas formed a few seals and suddenly, rocks came hurtling towards Misaki. In the blink of an eye, she vanished into static only to reappear next to Waku. Lady Nanami managed to hit the ground before being struck with the rocks. "Watch where you're throwing those things! You nearly hit me!" She hissed.

"Now would be a good time to get those swords out." Misaki whispered to Waku who gave her a nod.

"Arm yourselves men!" He ordered.

Gai, Riko and Koji stared on from their position by the cargo doors. "This isn't good at all." Koji said.

"Just keep ready; those sailors are likely to try something soon." Gai said with his fists poised.

"I'm more worried about those rock ninjas. They look powerful." Riko said.

Waku was definitely nervous. He had never been up against another ship with ninjas aboard and these ones looked a lot more powerful than what he had hired. "What do we do now?" He asked Misaki.

"First, I'm going to charge you for a B rank mission if not an A. Ninjas were not mentioned for this mission. Second, I am going to get those ninjas out of here and you are going to take care of the remaining crew. Got it?" She hissed.

"But…I…I can't afford B or A Rank mission fee!" He whined.

"That is hardly what you should be focusing on right now!" She hissed. She looked over at her team. "Keep it secure you three." She ordered.

"But sensei! There are three rock ninjas. How are you going to handle all of them?" Riko asked.

She smiled back. "Don't worry, I'll be fine. I'm not going to die on you today. I promise" and with that, Misaki vanished into a flash of lightning again. She then reappeared behind the three rock ninjas. "Let's go have a chat, shall we?" She cooed from behind them. The three ninjas stood frozen to their spots. She was so fast. She grabbed them by the scruff of their collars and vanished again into the static along with the ninjas.

"Where did she go?" Riko asked, in surprise.

Gai ran off towards the edge of the ship.

"Gai, get back here. We have to guard the door!" She demanded. Gai was not listening though. He looked over the edge. Sure enough, there she was, standing on the rocky waters across from the three ninjas.

The rock ninjas had not been prepared to be teleported and the sensation of being pulled through the electricity had left them a little nauseated. They shook off their confusion and the leader of the group spoke. "Red hair, unusual abilities with lightning, silver beads and intricate tattoos...There is only one ninja from Konoha that fits such a description. The Electric Leaf: Kurakumo Misaki." He said.

Misaki smirked. "Aw, I'm flattered." She replied.

Gai stared at the display. _Misaki was really recognized by other ninjas for her title. How cool was that!_

"Get out of my way you little brats!" hissed a gruff voice from on the ship deck. Gai turned around to see his teammates now engaged with a sailor from the other ship. The whole ship was now battling it out. The crew was attempting to hold back the enemy and for the most part, they were succeeding. They were outnumbered though and as a result, a sailor had made it to the cargo doors.

Riko poised herself, making sure to separate the sailor from the turtles behind her. As the man lunged forward, she was able to disarm him of his sword with her bare hands.

"Looks like these sailors aren't very well trained in combat." She said, spinning the blade in her hand while keeping eye contact with the startled man.

"You shouldn't underestimate us just because we are young." Koji said, performing a sweep with his foot and knocking the man to the ground. The man came down hard on his back, cracking his head on the deck.

"You little brats!" Came another man's voice. The two turned to see an even larger man lunging towards them. Koji and Riko readied themselves for the attack and were about to counter when they realized they were being restrained at the ankle by the man on the ground. There was no time to counter now that they were being held in place.

"Uh oh." Riko said, bracing for the second man's attack. The sailor was about to make contact when a kunai came from out of nowhere and hit the ground just by his side. He looked down at it with confusion. Neither of the kids had thrown it, so where had it come from?

"Dynamic Entry!" Gai shouted as his foot careened into the side of the man's face.

"Waa!" He cried as he was knocked over the edge of the ship with a splash.

The man on the ground was now furious as he watched his comrade go overboard. "You little shits are gonna pay." He said.

"Shut up!" Riko and Koji shot back, kicking him in the face and knocking him out cold.

Koji looked over at his green clad teammate who was beaming with pride over his performance. "Dynamic Entry?" Koji asked.

Gai looked back at him. "Yes, I have to name all of my moves don't I?" He said.

"All you did was kick him in the face." Koji replied.

Gai shook his head. "Oh no, I threw the kunai to distract him and then kicked him in his blind spot. That is my move."

"That's stupid."

"You're stupid."

"Shut up and focus you two. More are coming." Riko cut them off.

"Not bad you three. Keep those sailors back. You're doing great." The gruff Ninkame said from behind them

"Yeah! Get em!" shouted Babarusu from atop his grandfather.

"Go back inside Babarusu!"

"No way! This is so cool!" He shouted

Misaki crouched as the kunai went flying past her head and then quickly rolled as another foot attempted to make contact with her. These ninjas were fast, but they were still manageable. It could have been a lot worse. Ideally, she would have had her team's assistance, but she did not think they were at the level to take on such ninjas and that would also leave the crew on the ship vulnerable. At least, the crew would be safe under her team's care; she could focus better this way.

Another set of shuriken came whizzing at her and she vanished in a flicker of lightning, only to reappear a few feet over. She then formed the hand seals needed and summoned her next technique. "Lightning Beast." She said as the energy erupted from her arms. Out of the flash of light appeared what looked like a great bird. It cried as it bolted towards the set of rock ninjas.

"Look out!" The one cried, pulling his teammate out of the way. He almost managed to escape but the lightning bird struck the back of his right calf. He screamed out in pain as the lightning coursed through the appendage. The remnants of the lightning also coursed through the water, giving the other two ninjas a nasty jolt. Once the energy settled, the injured teammate was settled on the water and held his leg that was now in severe pain.

"You're lucky all you got was a good charring from that." Misaki said. "I won't miss again."

The other ninja that had tried to save his teammate turned and glared at her, still shaking off the electric shock. "You're going to pay for that…and everything else." He hissed. "How is it you can strike with lightning on water and not have any repercussions to you?"

Misaki laughed. "Oh please, you are a child." She held up her foot. "Any good lightning user has insulated shoes." She smiled.

"You're an evil bitch." Growled the leader of the ninjas.

"From what I can tell, I'm merely defending my friends up there. You are the ones that attacked us." She said.

"I know all about you Misaki. You and those other Konoha scum. What they have done to my village. My family. I'll make you taste the bottom of the sea before the day is over." He hissed.

"I'm not big on unnecessary death, but if you are going to persist till one of us is dead, I will have to oblige you." She said.

Her calm demeanour was really pissing him off. "Death to Konoha scum!" He shouted, summoning rocks with his hands. The fury was evident in his eyes.

"Stop Gorou! You're overdoing it!" Shouted his teammates.

"I don't care. I will make that bitch pay. This woman represents everything I hate. My mother, my father…my home…this woman ruined it all!" He shouted.

Misaki leapt from rock of rock, avoiding being hit by the projectiles. _This kid really does have a grudge against me. I have no idea who he is though._

The two rock ninjas still sitting behind their enraged comrade looked at one another. "I hate it when he gets this way." The one muttered.

"We'll I'm not going to try and stop him. Let's just get the job done." Replied the other.

The rocks continued to rise causing the water to wave more and more. Even the ships were beginning to sway violently.

"Hang on!" cried Waku. The crew definitely had the advantage at this point, with most of the enemy subdued on the deck, but the fighting had ceased completely now as everyone was simply trying to stay upright.

One of the rocks suddenly came up out of the water and struck the side of the boat giving it a hard jolt. This caused the Babarusu to fall from Ninkame's back. "Grandpa!" He cried as he slid down the deck.

"Babarusu!" Ninkame shouted. Without another thought, Gai went after the little turtle.

"Gai!" Riko shouted chasing after him. Koji maintained his position, not wanting to risk a breach of the cargo doors, as much as he wanted to help his team.

The little turtle whipped across the ship floor like a curling rock, bumping and bouncing against objects as he went along. He finally reached the edge of the ship and slipped through the posts of the guardrail. He screamed as he plummeted into the water.

"Hang on!" Gai shouted, diving after the little turtle. Riko stood by the edge and stared down.

"Oh no." She said. "This isn't good."

Misaki heard the shouting and looked over to see Gai dive off the edge of the ship. She worried about her student's safety as she continued to dodge the rocks. This situation needed to be brought under control fast before it got anymore out of hand.

"Don't turn away you fool!" laughed the lead rock ninja. Misaki turned back, coming face to face with him. He reached out to strike but Misaki quickly blocked it and pushed away. She landed on the water and placed her hands down on the surface to stop her movement. Once she was reoriented, she attempted to lunge forward but realized to her horror that her body would no longer move. She looked down and saw that her hands and feet had been sealed to the water with ice. Her eyes followed the long trail to find the injured ninja she'd struck earlier with his hands on the line of ice and a smirk on his face.

_An ice user! These people were more powerful than first thought. No normal Chuunin would use combination elemental jutsus like this_. Misaki struggled but with both her hands and feet sealed to the surface with ice, she was at the mercy of these ninjas.

"Target captured Gorou." The ice ninja said to the leader.

"Look at that boys, we've bagged us a pretty little thing." The leader of the group smirked, coming to stand next to his teammates. "I'm going to enjoy ripping you apart limb by limb."

"That seems a little cruel even for a rock ninja." Misaki hissed. "What is your grudge with me anyways?"

"I don't need a reason to hate you other than you are scum from Konoha. However, I will not deny you are known in my village. You have spilled your share of my people's blood, that's for damn sure. Your death will be quite pleasurable. I enjoy taking my sweet time killing members of your village. Why just last week, I found a nice woman delivering supplies between villages that said she was from Konoha. Beautiful little thing. She stole my heart…so I stole her's in return. It looked lovely on my mantle for a while." He laughed.

"You sick bastard. Killing innocent civilians from any village is just wrong." She said.

"Try saying that to my dead parents you cow. They were only civilians and your little Konoha ANBU squad had no qualms with striking them down. Now, enough talk. Let's see if you bleed the same color blood as mine." He hissed. The man began to approach, picking up pace.

"Looks like this is going to be the end for you." laughed the rock ninja with his hands on the ice.

Misaki glared at the man approaching while thinking out a plan in her head. She knew the best solution. Escape was not impossible, but the price…was just too high. It would require a large outburst of electric energy again and there was no doubt in her mind that the jolt would reach Gai in the waters…and most definitely kill him. The last thing she wanted to do was kill her own student, but it looked like if she didn't then the rest of the ship's tenants would also die. Either way there would be casualties. Misaki hung her head and closed her eyes.

"I'm sorry Gai." She whispered, as the sparks began to form.

END CHAPTER 7

Been having some serious writers block lately, so it has been a challenge moving the story forward. I hope that it will pass though. Happy New Year Everyone. Reviews are welcome.


	8. Chapter 8 Battle on the Water

History of Konoha's Noble Green Beast

CHAPTER 8

The waters were icy cold as Gai streamlined into the sea, in hot pursuit of the distressed turtle. He opened his eyes after breaching the surface and could see the little red disk spinning wildly in the waters just out of his reach. He kicked harder trying to catch up with him, pulling with all his might, but he just couldn't seem to catch up.

The power of the currents under the water was incredible. The rocks the ninja summoned had created some strange currents and it was making it hard to keep up with the turtle. He couldn't give up though, Babarusu was part of the cargo and he was important to Ninkame. Gai knew he couldn't let anything happen to him.

He continued to pull frantically, knowing his breath would only hold him for so long and the deeper he went, the colder the waters were and the more pressure it was putting on his lungs. He continued to track the little turtle, which was trying desperately to right himself. It was obvious he still did not have the strength to fight the tides on his own.

Riko peered over the edge of the boat again, knitting her eyebrows with worry. What should she do? The cargo needed to be protected, Gai needed help and…. "Oh no" She murmured as she looked out further into the water. She could now see her sensei pinned to the surface of the waters and one of the rock ninjas approaching her. She turned back to her teammate. "Koji, we need to go now!" She ordered.

The boy took a step forward but then froze on the spot as he looked back at the turtle behind him. He could not just leave the cargo unprotected.

"Don't worry about the cargo kid. You've done enough. I can take it from here. The others need your help now." Ninkame said.

Koji gave a nod and ran off towards Riko.

"Well, well…no one left to help the little turtle huh?" A voice teased.

Ninkame turned and looked at the man standing before him brandishing a large sword. "I'm gonna turn you into turtle soup." The man laughed manically.

Ninkame shook his head. "You shouldn't be rude to your elders like that." He said. Ninkame then opened his mouth and let out what sounded like a horrific scream. The noise was incredibly powerful and blew the man back along with everything else in the direct path of the noise.

Waku gaped at the damage that had been done by the turtle. "You idiot!" He shouted. "Don't use Sonic Wave on the ship! Look what you did to the main deck!" He waved his hands wildly in the direction of the floor, which was now sagging into the cargo hold.

Ninkame glared over at the captain. "Had you done a better job taking care of things I wouldn't have had to do so. Who is paying who here anyways?" He growled.

"The damage you just did won't even be half covered by how much you are paying me!" Waku demanded.

"Shut up or I'll Sonic Wave your ass off the boat with the sailors!"

"He he….yes sir."

Misaki felt her heart clench a little bit…she couldn't believe how this was going to end. The crackling noise around her body began to get louder and louder. She could still hear the man charging towards her yelling. She braced herself…this attack had to be timed perfectly in order to work…though in all actuality she was just hoping to buy time for Gai to surface and get out of there.

Suddenly, the yelling was replaced by the sound of painful screaming in front of her. Misaki looked up to see the man that had been preparing to attack her now grabbing at his arm in pain. She turned in the direction of the ship.

"Nice shot Riko." Koji said, admiring her handiwork.

"It would have been better if it hit him in the neck." She smiled, spinning another kunai on her finger.

"You're little babies have teeth." He growled at Misaki. "I didn't expect that attack."

"Don't underestimate us because we are young." Koji shouted out as the two hopped down onto the waters. The waves made it a little challenging to stand, so they supported themselves on the side of the boat.

The ninja took note of their need for support and laughed. "You're barely able to keep yourself afloat! How do you expect to go up against us?"

"Koji, Riko…get out of here!" Misaki yelled, pulling at her restraints.

"We're not leaving you to die sensei!" Riko said.

"That's right. I already got in trouble once for leaving someone behind…I'm not about to make that mistake again." Koji added.

Misaki was stunned. "You two…"

"Aww…how sweet. Now you can all die together." The man smirked. "This couldn't be better. Instead of just killing just you Misaki, I'll give you the pleasure of watching someone you care about die before your eyes…consider it karma balancing itself out." He said and headed towards her students.

"Oh no." She hissed, pulling against the ice again but it still would not budge.

"Don't think you can escape my trap Misaki." The ninja holding her in place said. "I'm the only one with the key to your prison."

Misaki felt the panic starting to set in. Things were too far out of her hands. Her plan would kill her entire team if she went through with it now. She'd have to come up with something else. It had been a while since she felt this helpless.

Koji and Riko saw the man coming at them. "Crap…what now?" Riko said.

"We fight." Koji replied. He pulled away from the wall and steadied himself, palms ready. "Byakugan!" He said, activating his eyes.

Riko reached into her pouch and pulled out a few shuriken and a kunai. "I guess we have no choice." She said.

The man lunged forward and attempted to slice into Koji's side. Koji was quick though and blocked the attack. Riko moved in behind the man with her blade drawn and took a swing at his back. The man felt her presence; quickly side stepped and made some space between them. These kids were faster than he had thought.

Koji and Riko continued to struggle to stay upright with all the waves. "This isn't going to work. We're at a real disadvantage having to concentrate so much to stand up." Riko said to Koji.

"I know…but what are we going to do?" He asked as he grabbed hold of the boat again.

Riko tried to think of a solution. At the very least, it would be easier if they had their whole team…but who knows where Gai was under water right now.

_Gai…_

Images of their attempts to stand on the rocky waters of the pond came back to her. Then it all made sense.

"That's it!" Riko said. She reached out. "Koji, take my arm."

He gave her a confused look.

"We can share each other as a balance." She said.

"But how are we going to fight held together like this?" He asked, taking her arm.

"Creatively." She answered, though the lack of confidence was evident in her voice. They turned their attention back to the man in front of them. They were now holding onto one another at the elbow, creating a bridge.

"You're nothing but a couple of toddlers trying to play with the big kids." The man said. He ran towards them again. This time he was just within reach when the two kids disappeared from in front of him. The initial shock left him wide open.

Riko reappeared behind his back again and swept her left leg out to take out his feet. The man noticed in time and leapt above. "Hmph." He said. "Pathetic."

"Stop underestimating us…your starting to piss me off." Came Koji's voice from in front of him. The man turned to see Koji with his palms open. The boy struck him hard in several spots. He got in about seven hits before the man dodged out of the way.

Koji felt satisfaction from his work and smirked at the man but quickly felt his balance giving out. "Koji!" Riko cried. She ran over as best she could and quickly took his arm again.

"I'm going to rip you two to shreds." He hissed.

"Gorou! Let me help you!" The one rock ninja called out who had been caring to their injured comrade.

"Shut up! I don't need help with infants!" He spat back.

The man began to form seals and felt a strange sensation in his arms. "What the hell?" He said looking down at his hands.

"Looks like you've never met a Hyuuga before." Koji said. "That technique I just used on you has sealed off the chakra flow points in your arms. That rock jutsu of yours is useless now."

He couldn't believe it…he was being schooled by these kids.

Misaki watched the display from her prison. _This rock ninja is being so careless…was he not as experienced as I had first thought…or just really stupid?_

The ninja's face flushed in frustration at how foolish he looked. "I may not have my jutsu…but that doesn't stop me from ripping you into pieces." He growled as he pulled the kunai out of his pouch and charged at them again.

The two prepared themselves for another attack. This time as he reached them, they pushed off one another, creating a divide that the ninja ran into. Koji struck out with his hands again but the rock ninja was ready this time, quickly kicking Koji in the chest and knocking him back into the water with a splash. Riko reached for her pouch to retrieve a weapon but felt a tight grip wrap around her neck and lift her from the ground. She grabbed at his hands frantically, trying to space them so she could breath.

The man gave her a sick and twisted look of satisfaction. "I'm going to pay you back for that little number you did to my arm." He hissed.

She could see the man spinning the kunai in his hand and drawing it up towards her. She kicked even more desperately to get free.

"How dare you try and choke the youthful beauty out of my teammate!"

Being held in place, she could not see where the voice was coming from but she clearly saw the little turtle shell hit the man square in the side of the head, knocking him off his center. "Aahh!" He cried and his went careening into the side of the ship. The sudden jolt caused him to release his grip on the girl's throat. Riko coughed violently as she tried to bring new air into her lungs.

The rock ninja looked down at the object that had hit him in the head. The little turtle shell gave a moan and a small head popped out.

"Gai-nee chan…you spun me too much on that throw." Babarusu said, looking ready to throw up.

Gorou turned in the direction the turtle was speaking to find an oddly dressed child standing across from him.

"Did you just hit me with a freaking turtle?" The ninja demanded.

Gai shook his head. "No no. Not just a turtle, a ninja turtle." He corrected him.

"Yeah, and don't forget it buddy!" Babarusu growled as he bit down hard on the ninja's foot.

"Yeow!" He cried, shaking his foot violently. "Get it off! Get it off!"

Riko, now seeing the opportunity she had been waiting for, reached back into her pouch and pulled out another kunai. With the way the man was flailing around it was hard to take aim.

"Get off me you little brat!" The ninja shouted, giving one final hard swing of his foot and sending the turtle flying.

Without a second thought RIko threw the kunai at the man's head.

"Don't miss." She said to herself.

The ninja looked on at the kunai coming in his direction. He smirked at the young girls attempts to harm him. With a quick reach of his hand the man side stepped and caught the kunai with his bare hand.

"You only hit me the first time because I wasn't paying attention to you." He said proudly.

"I wasn't trying to hit you." She smiled back.

Gorou gave her a confused look and then noticed the tag on the end of the kunai dissolving.

"Oh sh-"

BOOM!

The explosion created a bright light, which caused everyone to have to shade their eyes. Once the smoke subsided, you could see the ninja standing, badly charred with the kunai still in his hand. His eyes were wide and he did not speak, but only fell to his knees and sunk down into the waters.

"Gorou!" cried his teammates as they watched him go crashing into the waters.

Riko turned her attention back to her teammate. "Gai! You're alright!" She wobbled slightly on the waters.

Gai gave her a thumbs up. "Off course I am Riko-chan! I'm a great swimmer." In the process of giving his thumbs up, he forgot to focus on balancing and fell back into the water. "Whaaa!"

Koji, now carrying the little turtle, returned to his teammate. He took hold of Riko's arm for balance and shook his head at Gai. "Idiot." He muttered.

They then ran up to their teammate who was pulling himself back out of the water. He laughed nervously. "Hehe….my bad."

"Just, get over here" Koji sighed, pulling him the rest of the way out of the water with his free hand.

Koji placed the little turtle on Gai's shoulder. "Think you can hold on there?" Riko asked.

The turtle gave her a smile. "I'll be sure to hold on tight this time." He smiled.

"So what's the game plan?" Riko turned to her teammates.

"I have a couple of ideas…" Koji replied.

"Gorou…they defeated Gorou." The ninja said as he looked on at the display. "I….I can't believe it."

"We'll try to…because they are coming straight for us." The injured ninja said, looking at the attackers fast approaching. Sure enough, the chain of students was hurtling right for them. Misaki watched with worried eyes…Her team had gotten lucky last time but a direct attack on two of these people was foolish.

"Gourou may not have killed you…but I sure as hell will." The ninja said standing ready for the confrontation.

The three students hurtled on. "Now Riko!" Koji shouted. Riko released from the group and ran quickly through the hand seals. "Flower Petal Escape." She said and in an instant, she was gone, leaving her two-team members running at the ninjas. Riko quickly reappeared behind the ice user ninja with a kunai drawn. He turned in horror to see the girl behind him.

"Cheap parlor tricks won't work on us little girl." A voice said from behind her. She turned and gasped to see the other rock ninja behind her, blade also drawn.

"Really…then how about this one?" Came a voice from behind him. The ninja turned back to see Koji with his hands drawn. "46 palm strikes." He said, hitting the ninja with all that he had. The man blocked a few but overall Koji was able to strike him quite a few times. He finally managed to get a hold of the boy's hand and threw him away like trash.

"Little brat." He hissed, knowing that his chakra points had now been sealed.

He turned expecting to find the girl still there, but she was gone. Confused he looked on ahead with eyes wide. There was no time to move for what was coming.

"No one can defeat the power of youth!" Gai yelled, charging forward on the path of ice. It was much easier to control his chakra on the ice since it was very flat. He was within a few meters and quickly hit the ground and started to slide with his feet kicked out. The little boy careened into the two ninjas like a set of bowling pins, causing them to go flying into the water. The ice user had to let go of his hold on the ice.

Misaki felt the strength of her prison weaken and with a small burst of chakra from her palms, she was able to break the ice quite easily now. She could not believe it…her team had pulled it off! "Good work you three." She said.

Gai turned to look at his teacher "Thank you sensei!" He shouted.

"Don't turn your back on me you little piece of trash." Came a dark voice from behind him. Gai turned to see the two ninja, glaring hard at him.

"Oh Crap." He said. He turned to run, but knew it was hopeless. The injured ninja grabbed him by the ankle, causing him to fall.

"You're dead now kid!" He laughed.

"Wanna bet?" Babarusu said, crawling down Gai's backside.

"What's with the baby turtle?" The ninja gave a sceptical look.

"I'm not a baby!" He shouted, biting down hard on the ninjas hand until he heard a satisfying crunch.

"Waaaa!" The ninja cried releasing Gai's foot.

Gai quickly pulled away, making sure to bring Babarusu with him. "Nice work!" He said, getting a smile out of the turtle.

The ninjas were furious now. One unconscious under the water, one with a broken hand and leg…and they were up against a bunch of freaking kids!

"We're never going to be able to show our faces in the village again." The rock ninja said as he clutched to his now broken hand.

"At least it can't get any worse." His friend tried to comfort him.

"Hey Boys!"

The ninjas turned back around to see Misaki standing next to them.

"Oh crap."

"You know, at first I really thought I had under estimated you, but you three are a bunch of bumbling idiots." She chide.

The ninja that could still stand drew his weapon. "A fight to the death!" He shouted.

Misaki raised a curious eyebrow. "Really? After all of that?" She gave a sigh. "Team. Return to the ship!" She ordered.

"But sensei, we can still be useful." Gai demanded.

"You have already done more than enough. I am very proud of you three, but please return to the ship. I do not want you to get caught in this crossfire." She said sternly.

Gai frowned slightly and refused to move. Riko, noticing his stubbornness reached out, grabbed him by his suit, and pulled him along with her and Koji to the ship. Even after they arrived on the deck, they remained by the edge to see what their teacher would do.

"Don't need your babies to look after you anymore?" The ninja teased.

Misaki shook her head. "They are not babies as you call them. You should already realize the power they have." Miskai formed a few hand seals. "Water Release: Water Encampment Wall." She shouted.

With that, a large wall of water developed around the three ninjas, obscuring them from the teams view on the boat.

"Wow. I've never felt chakra like this before." Riko said.

"There is so much of it." Koji added. He kept his eyes activated so he could watch what was happening inside the field.

"Dammit, I wanted to see!" Gai frowned.

"I'll tell you what's happening." Koji replied.

Misaki stood across from the two ninjas. "There is no escape for you now." She said.

The ninjas looked around at their water prison. "I thought you were a lightening user." He said.

"Even you should know ninjas can have an affinity for more than one element." She replied.

The ninja scoffed. "Whatever, we captured you once, we can do it again."

"The only reason you got me last time is because you caught me off guard. It will not happen again, I promise." She said. "I'm quite quick; unfortunately a lot of my best techniques require me to slow down too much to use them. Being able to hold the opponent in place is helpful. "

"What's going on?" Gai demanded.

Koji continued to stare at the wall of water. "Nothing really. They're just standing there and…wait a minute."

"What? What is it?" Gai demanded.

"Misaki's arms, there is a great deal of chakra forming around them. She's holding them out and…oh wow." He muttered.

"What? What!" Gai reached over and grabbed the Hyuuga by his shirt.

"It's…"

Koji couldn't finish his sentence as the bright light shone out of the top of the water prison. The chakra illuminated the evening skies. The air became thick as syrup making it hard to breath.

After a few moments, the light faded as did the water wall prison. The air became lighter again and the students leaned over the edge of the boat to see their sensei standing alone. She brushed the hair out of her eyes and ran her fingers down the tattoos of her arms that were now glowing. As her fingers graced along the designs they slowly turned back to their original black color. She looked over at her students that were gaping from the edge of the boat and gave them the friendliest smile she could muster.

Gai turned back to Koji who looked awe struck. "What did you see?" He asked again.

"Lets…lets never make Misaki-sensei mad again." He replied.

Gai gave him a confused look but his attention was drawn back to the red haired woman that was now standing beside him on the ship.

"How are things up here?" Misaki asked Waku.

Waku smiled. "Everything is great. We'll…minus the damage to the ship." He said.

"Stop trying to blame me for your problems!" The old turtle growled.

Waku gave a sigh. "And on top of it, even if we fix the damage, we can't move thanks to those rocks."

Gai piped in. "What about that one?" He asked, pointing at the other ship.

Waku's eyes lit up like a child on his birthday. "Well, now that's an idea."

"You stay the hell away from my ship!" Nanami shouted from her position tied to the main sail. Waku ignored her.

"It does seem like a fair exchange. A ship for a ship. I really have been in the market for a new vessel, ours is so crowded." He mused.

"I'll kill you. I'll kill you!" The woman snapped.

"Now…now…that's no way for a lady to talk." Waku chide, getting a little too close to her.

Nanami stomped hard with her free foot on top of his.

"Yeow!" He cried. "Why you little.." Waku reached out to strike her. Misaki intervened and held him by the arm.

"Let's just move the cargo before night fall." She said.

Waku held back him temper and gave a nod. "You're right, it's important that we move things now and set sail."

Misaki began to head towards the cargo hold when she heard Nanami cry out again.

"What are you going to do, just leave us here on the ship?" The woman demanded.

Waku turned around once more. "Of course we are. I'm not going to take such noisy cargo along with me." He said.

"Noisy Cargo!" She shouted.

"That's right…you and your crew get to sit here and wait till another ship comes along and finds you. I'm sure your crew is used to your incessant whining though so they won't mind listening to you for hours and hours while they wait." Waku said.

"No! Take us with you! Please!" They cried.

"You no good sea dogs!" She growled at her men.

"Full speed ahead!" said Waku from his new captain's wheel, leaving the old (and noisy) boat behind.

The boat took off into the waters and continued on its journey. They eventually reached Tobico Island and were able to drop off the cargo with no further problems. "Thank you for looking after my cargo." Ninkame said. "You Konoha ninjas are not half bad."

"Not a problem Ninkame-san. We are glad to help." Misaki smiled.

Ninkame then turned his attention to the green jump suit. "As for you my boy. I have a special thank you for you. You took good care of my grandson. He may have died if not for you."

"You can always count on the Powerful Maito Gai!" He said giving the turtle a smile and his signature thumbs up.

Riko and Koji paled a little. "He's trying to give himself a title again." Riko said to Koji who remained silent.

"At first I just thought you were some runny nosed kid with a big mouth but it turns out, you're not a half bad fighter. Babarusu told me all about your little teamwork down on the water. Quite impressive." Ninkame said.

"Thank you Ninkame-san. You're very kind." Gai said giving a bow. "It was an honor to work with your grandson. He is an excellent ally. I'd be lucky to ever get a turtle as cool as him."

"This brings me to my next point. You are very keen on having your own summon. That was pretty obvious when I met you. If I were a little younger I'd offer to work with you no problem, but I'm afraid I've just gotten a little too old for that sort of thing."

Gai felt the disappointment hit him. "I see."

"However, I know someone who would really like the chance to work with you." He said. Gai looked down to see Babarusu near his feet smiling.

"It's not uncommon for turtle's in my family to go off and train with different ninjas. Babarusu definitely showed today that he is getting stronger and is ready to go out on his own. We have talked about it and if you would like, Babarusu can come and work with you." He offered.

Gai started jumping up and down furiously. "Yes…yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. One million billion times yes! Oh thank you thank you thank you!" He shouted.

The older turtle sweat dropped and looked at his grandson. "You sure you can handle this Babarusu?" He asked.

The little turtle laughed nervously. "I think I'll be okay. I…Whoa!" He said as he was lifted into the air. He felt himself being turned around and was now staring face to face with the overly enthusiastic ninja.

"We'll be good teammates." Gai said with a smile.

The turtle was a little stunned but gave him a smile back. "Yep! Yep! Yep!"

Misaki grinned. _He never ceases to amaze me._ She thought.

"First, I'm going to have to buy all the aquatic stuff to set up in my bedroom. Then I'll have to buy some food for you and…hey, how big are you going to get anyways?"

"They say I'll probably be as big as my great granddad!"

"Whaa! I'm going to need more space!"

"Gai, let's get back to Konoha before you start planning to knock out the walls in your parent's house." Misaki demanded.

After a few more days of travel, the team arrived back at the gates of Konoha.

"It's good to be home." Riko said with a stretch.

They walked through the front gates and waved at the tenants by the entry podium. As they continued down the main walk, they noticed a rather large gathering of ninjas.

"What's going on?" Koji mused.

As they continued to approach, they noticed it was actually a large section of their old academy class. Everyone was mulling around and chatting amongst the scattered groups. Ebisu's team was there, Anko's, Kurenai's, Kakashi's…

They approached the group with a wave. "Hey, what is everyone doing out here?" Misaki asked.

"Oh, Misaki-sensei. There's a meeting with a bunch of the Jonin teachers in the Hokoge's office. It sounded pretty important." Kureni said.

"Really?" She replied.

"Yes. We were told that if we saw you, we were to tell you to go there right away. All the teams are on standby here until the meeting is over." Ebisu added in.

"I see. We'll in that case, settle here team. I'll be back as soon as the meeting is over." She said and disappeared.

Riko pouted. "I really just wanted to go home though." She whined. Then she noticed the silver haired stud a few people over. _Well maybe it's not all bad._

Misaki took off quickly as she could towards the center of the village. It was odd to have such a serious meeting in the middle of the day, not to mention leave all the Genin teams by the entrance. Could whatever it was that was going on require immediate departure of the teams? It must have been called last minute. She finally reached the main doors and was quickly ushered up to the office. Upon stepping through the entrance to the Hokoge's office, she found a cast of familiar faces. Orochimaru was sitting in the corner, with his arms across his chest, looking annoyed to be there, Inochi was by the desk looking concerned along with several other familiar Jonin. Then her eyes fell on the scene that truly disturbed her: Kushina wrapped up in Minato's arms, crying uncontrollably.

"What's going on?" Misaki asked.

Sarutobi looked up from his papers. "Oh! Misaki! I'm glad you're back. I'm afraid we have some terrible news."

Misaki walked over to her friends in the corner and placed a hand on Kushina's back, who flinched. Minato looked both pained and furious. Misaki gave him a confused look. Minato proceeded to gently rub Kushina's back. "Hey…shhh…Misaki-chan is here now." He whispered.

The woman pulled away and turned to look at Misaki. Her eyes were red and the tears had left streaks all down her face. She sobbed and tried to talk between breaths but it was impossible. Instead, she lunged forward and wrapped her arms around her friend.

Misaki was still stunned. "Will someone please tell me what's going on?"

"There was an attack." Minato said. "The whirlpool country has…been destroyed."

"Destroyed?" She asked in confusion. "What do you mean destroyed?"

"That's what the reports tell us, they are vague, but last night, there was a major attack on the whirlpool country. No one is sure what happened, but we got a major distress signal. ANBU were sent and the reports sent back have not been good."

"Kushina?" Misaki said looking at the trembling woman in her arms.

"It's gone…it's all gone." She whispered.

"The reports also indicate there may have been a few survivors. Those that were not in the country at the time or on the outskirts managed to flee…but the casualty numbers being reported have not been good." Sarutobi added. "I'm afraid that Kushina cannot go back to her home."

The woman let out a pathetic sob and clutched tighter to her friend. "Who did this?" Misaki demanded, feeling her anger beginning to rise up.

"That we don't know and that's what we intend to find out. It's the least we can do." Sarutobi said. "That's why I'm sending the two fastest ninjas in the village to go investigate and recover any survivors along with the ANBU already out there."

Misaki looked over at her friend Minato who gave her a nod.

"I…I'm coming with you two." Whispered Kushina.

Misaki shook her head. "Kushina…you're in no state to travel."

"I said I'm coming dammit!" She shouted, pushing away from Misaki. As she stepped back, she felt a warm pair of hands land on her shoulders. She turned around to see Minato with the most sincere look in his eyes.

"Kushina…please. I know how much this means to you, but if you let Misaki and I go, alone we will be much faster. I promise to save anyone and everyone we find. So please stay here." He begged.

It was evident the woman was struggling with this but she hung her head. "Please hurry." She said.

"Do you have enough energy to handle another full mission right now Misaki?" Sarutobi questioned out of concern.

She nodded. "I'll be fine." She walked over to her friend and gave her a small smile. "Here." She said, handing her a key. "Stay in my place for now. That way I'll know where to find you and give you a full report on what I find okay?" She said.

Kushina gave a nod. Misaki turned to Inochi. "Can you take her there and make sure she's okay?"

Inochi gave her a nod and led the woman out of the room. Once the door closed, Orochimaru finally spoke up.

"Sending these two is a waste of time. You read the reports. Everyone in that damn country burned to a crisp. There will be no survivors."

Orochimaru was silenced by the sensation of cold steel along his throat. He looked up into the darkest pair of cold blue eyes he had ever seen.

"Say something else you snake…I dare you." Minato hissed.

Misaki rushed over and pulled him away. "Just ignore him Minato." She said.

Orochimaru laughed. "Such spirit Minato-kun…I like it…but I'm only telling you this for your own good. This village is already short on ninjas and sending them is a pointless quest and a waste of resources Sarutobi-sensei." He said.

Sarutobi was about to say something when Minato cut in. "I don't care if all that is left is a crater. All that woman wants is to know…and if there is any hope someone survived, I want to be able to give that to her." He said.

"Come on Minato. Let's stop wasting time." Misaki said. He gave her a nod and the two walked out the door, leaving Orochimaru and Sarutobi alone.

"Anything to stir the pot eh Orochimaru?" Sarutobi asked, to which the man only smiled again.

Team 9 stood around waiting for what seemed like forever. It just did not make sense that they had to wait here for their teacher. Koji had taken to chatting up a pair of female ninjas that clearly had a crush on him. The ogling girls were the ego boost he needed after the long trip.

Riko mulled around the groups but couldn't seem to find Rin, Kurenai or Anko anywhere.

_They must have gone off somewhere more comfortable before I got here. _She frowned.

Then her eyes fell on Kakashi. She felt the heat rise into her cheeks and her stomach start to do flip-flops. She adjusted her hair and decided it might be nice to pick up her conversation from the weapons shop again with him. She walked up to him and the little silver haired ninja looked at her questionably.

_Say something stupid! _She pressed in her mind.

She was about to open her mouth when a flash of green stepped in front of her.

"Ah ha! Kakashi-chan! Good to see you!" Gai shouted with a smile.

The ninja continued to look unmoved. "What do you want Gai?" He asked.

"I just thought you would be interested to know that I am now the proud owner of a ninja animal!" He smiled.

The ninja continued to look unimpressed. "You thought I would be interested in this?" He asked.

Gai gave him a nod. "Of course!"

"You are mistaken." He said.

Gai looked on in shock. "But, are you not an advanced ninja? I thought having a ninja animal would be something you would be working at!"

"Obito is kind of like a ninja pet." He shrugged.

"What did you just call me?" Obito demanded.

"Ah! Such a clever comeback. You really are a skilled ninja of both brawn and wit!" Gai smiled.

"Braw and wit?" Kakashi repeated slowly.

"Are you hitting on him or something?" Obito asked, now a little disturbed.

"Gai, stop harassing Kakashi-kun!" Riko demanded.

"Yeah Bowl Head, leave him alone." Anko chimed in, coming out through the crowd to see what the commotion was about.

Gai turned to Anko and gave a sharp point of his finger. "Don't tell me what to do you liar!" He shouted.

"Lair?" She said with a bemused expression.

"That's right? I know about your deception. You are not 10!" He said shaking his fist.

"So?"

"So! You completely ruined my goals of being the youngest from our class to graduate!" He demanded.

"Riko-chan, why did you tell him? I wanted to crush his dreams myself." She said looking at her friend with a crooked smile.

Riko shook her head. "You can be so cruel sometimes Anko-chan." She replied.

"I'll never trust a word you say again!" Gai said, shaking his fist at her.

"Awww. But…but…I only did it because I like you. I was hoping we could go on a date sometime." She said, looking down at her feet nervously.

Gai pulled back with a look of shock. "Really?"

Anko then stuck out her tongue. "No! I lied again! Ha ha!"

Gai clutched his hands to his head. "No! Fooled again!"

"Gai, calm down. She's just trying to bother you and its working and leave Kakashi-kun alone. He's not interested in ninja pets." Riko chastised.

That's when everyone noticed Kakashi wasn't standing where he had been before. They turned to see him standing behind Gai, staring at the ninja turtle on his backpack.

Babarusu looked at him with a curious expression. "Hello!" He said.

Kakashi crooked his head to the side with interest. "You can talk." He replied.

Babarusu shook his head. "Has anyone from Konoha seen a talking animal before?" He sighed.

Gai looked back over his shoulder, his eyes beaming with pride. "Isn't he the coolest?" Gai said.

"Actually he is kinda cool." Obito mused. He walked up beside Kakashi and stuck out his finger. "Hey little guy." He tried to pet the turtle.

Babarusu realized what was going on and bit down on the Uchiha's finger.

"Yeow!" He cried.

"Babarusu…don't go biting our allies!" Gai scolded.

"He was trying to pet me!" The turtle demanded.

"Sometimes you really are an idiot Obito." Kakashi sighed.

"Shut up! How was I supposed to know he doesn't like being pet?" Obito demanded.

Gai now spun around to look at Kakashi. He could barely contain his pride. "So Kakashi. Are you jealous? Wish you had your own ninja animal?"

"Gai, stop bothering him!" Riko demanded.

"Actually, I just got one as well." The group of students looked over in interest as Kakashi reached into his own backpack. "I just got him yesterday, but he's too young to leave alone at home so I keep him with me." He said. He pulled out the ball of fur from his backpack.

"What the hell is that?" Obito said.

Kakashi turned and glared. "It's a dog you moron."

"Don't call me a moron!"

"I only call you what you are."

"Shut up!"

Gai quickly interrupted the argument. "Cool! A ninja dog! Here!" He reached over to the top of his pack and pulled Babarusu off. "You two should be ninja animal friends. Say hello Babarusu!"

Babarusu looked at the lumpy ball of fur and then back at Gai. "You expect me to talk to an animal that can't speak?" He asked.

"Why did you get a dog anyways?" Riko asked.

Kakashi shrugged. "Minato-sensei said that it was part of a new training he was developing for me."

Before anymore could discuss it further, the groups were drawn to the pair of Jonin's approaching.

"Minato-sensei." Obito said.

"Misaki-sensei." Riko added.

"Hello everyone." Minato smiled. "All the other teams with the exception of teams 7 and team 9 are allowed to leave." Minato said. With that, the other students took off for their homes, leaving the few students behind.

Misaki looked over the group and noticed the ball of fur in Kakashi's hands. She leaned over to Minato. "Why does Kakashi have a dog?" She asked.

He whispered back. "I figured raising a dog might be a good hobby for him. The rules thing has really been getting out of hand lately."

Riko, feeling awkward watching the ninjas whisper to one another finally spoke up. "What happened at the meeting Misaki-sensei?" she asked.

"I'm afraid that Minato and I will have to leave the village for a while on a special mission. You were all due for some time off as it was, so this will be an opportunity for you to rest and train on your own." Misaki said.

Gai frowned. "But we don't need a break. We were just getting warmed up at kicking butt!"

"Maybe you don't, but I sure as hell wouldn't mind a full night's sleep!" Riko snapped.

Gai flinched. _Riko-chan is so moody when she's tired._

Misaki ruffled the young boy's hair. "Don't worry yourself Gai, I promise we won't be gone long. If you are that worried, take the time to train, there are many opportunities in the village to improve yourself. I will likely be back by the end of the week."

Minato turned to his own team. "You three do the same. Be sure to be ready to go when I get back."

They all nodded.

Gai returned his attention to Kakashi and their previous discussion. "So do you have a name for your dog?"

"Gai, leave Kakashi-kun alone!" Riko demanded.

"Actually I was thinking of naming him Honshu." He said.

"That's not a very creative name." Obito said.

"Well…Obito might be a good dog's name…" Kakashi replied.

Misaki leaned over to Minato and whispered. "Wow, they almost fight as bad as mine." To which she just got a nervous laugh.

END CHAPTER 8

A/N: I just wanted to let anyone who reads the manga know that I officially **love** grown up Naruto. The latest chapter was amazing!


	9. Chapter 9 The Reason Why

A/N- Thank you so much everyone for all your support and feedback! It really makes my day. Will try to update again soon :-) - Lila

The History of Konoha's Noble Green Beast

Chapter 9

Riko walked briskly down the streets of Konoha alone. It was evening and she was enjoying the warmth of the last sunrays of the day on her skin. The smell of fresh azaleas fluttered up to her nose as she clutched tighter to the bouquet in her hands. The only sound around her was the tapping of her boots on the walkway.

The excitement was rising in her belly with every step. She could not believe someone had gotten these for her. They were so lovely! As she continued down the street, she noticed the Ichiraku Ramen Shop to her left. It was still open and serving a lone customer. As she drew nearer, the image of the person became more distinct. Her heart began to flutter a little as she recognized the silver locks of hair jutting up and out from the surrounding head protector.

Her instinct was to draw closer to him, but she re-examined the bouquet in her hands and decided better of it. She was very interested to find out who her secret admirer was and she could not stop to chat now. As she walked past, the clicking of her boots drew the attention of the dark eyed Chuunin sitting on the stool. He turned and watched her walk past with interest.

"Riko." He called out quietly.

This caused the young girl the freeze on the spot. _He called out for me!_

She swiftly turned on her heel and stared at him. "Yes Kakashi-kun?"

The little boy hopped off his stool and approached her. He scratched the side of his head and smiled. "How are you?"

Riko turned her head to the side curiously. _He really wants to know how I am?_

"I'm doing very well. How are you?" She asked, being cautious that this wasn't someone pulling a mean prank on her.

"Good. Good. I see you got my present." He said far too casually.

Riko felt her knees buckle and her breath hitch in her throat. "These…these are from you?" She stuttered.

Kakashi took a step forward and nodded. "I wasn't sure what kind of flowers you liked, so I bought the ones I thought looked the nicest. I'm not really good at this sort of thing." He said.

"B-b.b.b. why would you do this?" She asked.

"Well, I thought that was obvious." He said, the crinkle forming in his mask as he smiled. "I like you Riko-chan."

At that moment, Riko was convinced that the world had stopped around her. Her mind raced wildly, making it difficult to form any coherent thoughts.

"I…I…I like you too Kakashi-kun." She managed to force out. "More that anyone." She stared down into the flowers she was still clutching to, blushing madly.

Kakashi took another step forward, closing the gap between them. "I'm glad." He said in a hushed voice.

Riko placed up her hands between them quickly, creating a barrier. "But, what about Rin-chan?" She demanded.

Kakashi matched his palms to against Riko's and laced his fingers between hers. The sudden contact made Riko release the flowers. The azaleas dropped to the ground causing some of the petals to blow away aimlessly in the evening wind. He gently pulled her hands down and drew her closer.

"I only have eyes for you." He said. Kakashi leaned forward, closing the gap even further.

_He's going to kiss me!_

Riko closed her eyes. The sound of her heart racing was deafening in her ears. "Kakashi-kun." She whispered.

"I just have one other thing to tell you Riko-chan." Kakashi said in a hushed voice. She could feel his warm breath against her lips through the thin mask covering his face. The sensation sent chills through her spine, knowing he was this close to her.

"What is it?" She asked, still not opening her eyes.

"Wake up Riko-chan!" He screamed. The shout hit her eardrums full force causing her head to ring.

Riko was so startled she shot up in her bed like a rocket. She attempted to swallow her heart back down into her chest as it rattled wildly from the sudden shock. She looked around the room, her eyes were still blurry with sleep but she did not see any threats. Had she really imagined it?

"Good morning Riko-chan!" The voice cried again, only it sounded different this time.

With cat-like reflexes, Riko grabbed for the handful of shikruken next to her bed. She threw them hard in the direction of the voice, which gave out a large scream in response.

After a few seconds, the world began to register better around her and her vision began to clear. She looked over at the area she had targeted and could see her window was now nicely decorated with a number of shiruken around the edges. After a few more moments, a pair of dark eyes and shiny hair peered up over the windowsill.

"You have intense reflexes in the morning Riko-chan," Gai said nervously. "and an impressive number of weapons next to your bed!"

Riko gave her head a quick shake to make sure she was seeing things correctly. "Gai? What's going on? Is there something wrong? Do we have a mission already?"

Gai pulled himself up onto the ledge of the window and gave her a toothy smile. "No. No. I just thought it was such a lovely morning, we should train together!" He said.

Riko rubbed her eyes. "What time is it?" She asked pulling her alarm clock up to her face. Her eye twitched a little. "Gai, it's 5:30 in the morning." She then looked out the window past him. "The sun isn't even up!"

Gai gave her a thumbs-up. "That's the best time to workout Riko-chan. Seeing the sun rise while you train hard is…is…only short of magical!" His eyes welling up a little bit.

"Gai?"

"Yes my flower?" He cooed back.

"It's 5:30 in the morning right?"

"Yes."

"And we just got back from our mission yesterday right?"

"Yes we did."

"Then get the hell out of my room!" She shouted, chucking the alarm clock at him. Gai was quick enough to catch the device, but in doing so, lost his balance on the windowsill and went tumbling down the roof and hit the ground with a loud thud. He looked up in a daze as the angry blonde-haired girl stared down at him.

"Don't wake me up the day after a mission like the world is ending! Pull crap like that again and I'll see to it you never see another sunrise again!" She shouted, then slammed the window shut and pulled the latch into place to ensure he would not come back in.

"I…I guess all flowers have some thorns." He gasped painfully from the ground. After the pain began to subside, Gai rolled himself over and stood up, brushing the dirt from the street off his suit.

"I guess I'll have to train alone today." He muttered disappointedly. He had been looking forward to spending some alone time with Riko too. Gai walked down the quiet streets, heading for the public library. He had a number of things he wanted to accomplish today and since Riko was not very interested in training with him, he would have to move on to something else.

After finally arriving at the library, he walked up to the front door, happy to see that it was already open. Many of the medical academy students needed regular access for their studies, so the hours tended to be quite good. As he walked through the empty lobby, he paused at the front desk to get directions for what he was looking for.

After a little bit of wandering he found the spot and began to shuffle through the books and scrolls for the right text. "Ah ha! Found you!" He said, pulling the small scroll of the shelf.

He unravelled the paper and began to read the instructions. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu (_Summoning Technique_) …" He muttered to himself. As he read the instructions, he pulled out his note pad and began to write down a few key points, to save him having to check the scroll out of the library. "There, that should be enough." He slid the scroll back onto the shelf and headed back out of the library. Excited to test out what he had just learned, Gai barely got out the library doors and down the steps before he pulled his notebook back out. He carefully read over the instructions again.

"Let's see…first I have to have made a contract with the animal that I'm going to summon. Okay, good thing I took care of that yesterday." He said to himself.

Babarusu had been aware of how summoning contracts worked and had made Gai write up a scroll with him the night before. He would have waited, but Gai had whined quite a bit about it so he figured it might appease him if he just got it over with.

It didn't bother him that much since Gai had been very generous with the aquatic set up in his room for him, much to his parent's dismay. He had never seen human children interact with their adult parents before and found the whole bargaining process quite amazing. In the end, there had been an agreement. In exchange for allowing Babarusu to stay, Gai had agreed to an absurd number of chores for his mother. The list would likely take him into his late teens to complete, but Gai had been so adamant about keeping Babarusu at the house she couldn't refuse. That and Gai had used what he explained later was called the 'puppy eyes' technique on his father, which broke the man in about 2 seconds.

Babrusu had made a mental note to try out this 'puppy eye' technique on his grandfather the next time he wanted to go on a mission with him.

Gai placed the notes on the ground and continued to read them aloud. "The user must draw some of their blood and smear it on their hand…" Gai reached into his pouch and pulled out a kunai. He gave a little wince as he pricked his finger and then ran it along the palm of his other hand.

"Form the appropriate hand seals and then place your hand on the ground…seems easy enough." Gai recited the seals as he moved through them. "Boar, Dog, Bird, Monkey, Ram…" and with that, he slammed his hand to the ground. Instantly, a puff of smoke formed and a small and very tired looking turtle appeared.

"Wha…what's going on?" Babarusu muttered.

"Yatta!" Gai cried, dancing around with pride. "And on the first try too!"

Babarusu looked up at the dancing ninja with confusion. "Gai…why did you summon me so early in the morning? I thought we agreed you could try this later in the day." He yawned.

Gai scratched the back of his head. "Sorry…but plans got changed, so summoning practice got moved up." He explained.

"She got mad when you tried to wake her didn't she?" He mused.

"How did you know?" Gai said with surprise.

"Lucky guess." He sighed. "Well, seeing as I'm awake now, what do you plan to do?"

"I suppose we should find some more training to do. Is there anything you turtles normally work on?" Gai asked.

"We'll, there are a lot of different techniques my family uses. The one I've been trying to master is the Sonic Wave."

"What is that?" Gai asked curiously.

"It's the one my Grandpa used to knock those sailors off the boat on your last mission." He replied.

Gai thought back to the damage on the upper deck of the old boat.

"Cool! You can really do that?" He beamed.

Babarusu laughed nervously. "Well, I've been working on it, but I still need quite a bit of practice." He said.

"We'll show me what you can do." Gai insisted.

"Hmmm….okay." He said. Babarusu cleared his throat and opened his mouth. Gai braced himself for the coming blow but was surprised with what actually came out. There were no sonic waves, but rather a sharp piercing cry. Gai covered his ears, wincing in pain from the sound.

"Babarusu! Please stop! You sound like a dying cat!" He shouted over the noise.

Babarusu snapped his mouth shut and glared. "Shut up! I'm just learning it, of course it isn't perfect!"

Gai was about to retort when he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. It was hard for anything not to take his notice, as there had literally been no one in the street all morning. He looked over and his eyes widened with excitement. "You!" He shouted, pointing in the direction of the lone man.

The ninja turned and looked back at the young boy. Horror crept over his face as he recognized the boy's distinct eyebrows and haircut. "Oh crap!" He hissed and ran off down the street.

"No time to lose!" Gai shouted. He swept up the little turtle, and took off after the man.

To say the man was less than happy to see Gai was an understatement. He'd had more than enough of the young student when he'd been training him for the tree exercises. Waiting around to see what this kid wanted now would only be trouble.

"Wait up!" Gai cried in hot pursuit.

"Get away from me!" The man shouted running faster. "I want nothing to do with you!"

"Please! It's important that I talk to you!" Gai demanded.

"Shut up!" an old woman's voice came from a high up window as they passed through the street. A rather large potato flew out the window soaring through the air before nailing the poor special Jonin in the back of head. The unexpected attack caused the man for fall forward hard on his face.

"Why…why hit me? He's the one being loud." The man whined to himself as he lay twitching on the ground. Gai finally caught up with the man.

"Wow, you are fast!" Gai said. "You must be a Jonin or something."

The man's face twitched. "You mean you don't even remember me?" He demanded.

Gai scratched his chin. "You do seem a little familiar." He replied.

"I'm the Jonin teacher Misaki-chan sent to give you chakra training!" He snapped.

Gai's eyes finally lit up with recognition. "Oh yes! Now I remember! It was…um…er…Kazuki-sen…"

"My name is Hotaka…you're not even close!" He snapped.

"Shut up!" The woman's voice cried as another potato came flying out the window and hit poor Hotaka again.

Hotaka rubbed the spot he had been hit and yelled up at the window. "Stop hitting me with potatoes you old hag!" He shouted.

"I'll show you old hag!" came the voice again as another flock of potatoes came flying out the window in his direction.

"Iyeee!" He cried and ran for cover around the corner. _How can she have so many potatoes!_

He peered back around the corner of the building after the potatoes had stopped.

_For an old woman…she sure has an arm on her. _He thought.

"That was close wasn't it?" Gai said from behind him, causing Hotaka to jump. Hotaka looked over at the bright-eyed boy with a glare.

"You almost got me killed you know!" He hissed, trying to keep his voice low enough as to not aggravate the potato lady any further.

The little boy bowed. "Sorry, I did not mean for that to happen. Maybe you shouldn't yell so loud next time though." Gai said, with the best intentions.

Hotaka held back the urge to strangle the boy and brushed back his hair away from his face. "What do you want?" He demanded.

"Well at first I was going to see if you knew anyone that could train me, but since you are a teacher yourself, perhaps you can help me!" He cheered.

Hotaka put up his hands. "Oh no…oh no, no, no…not again."

"Please sensei! I need someone to train me!" He begged, throwing on the puppy eyes again.

This tactic didn't seem to sway the Jonin. "Well find someone else! I'm way too busy today." He said arrogantly as he turned his nose up at the boy. It was actually a lie. Today his schedule was pretty light, but there was no way he was going to tell Gai that!

Gai frowned. "I see…I understand. I'm sure Misaki-sensei will understand if I train on my own today instead of with a Jonin. Thank you anyways" He turned to walk away.

Hotaka became interested upon hearing Misaki's name. "You tell Misaki about all the people you train with?" He asked.

Gai nodded furiously. "Oh yes. I want to make sure Misaki-sensei knows how hard I've been working and that all the people that help me get proper recognition. It's only fair!" He explained.

"I see…" Hotaka said rubbing his chin. His mind began to wander.

"_Oh Hotaka-kun! I can't believe you took so much time out of your day just to help my student with his training. You really are amazing!" _

"_Not at all Misaki-chan. I would do anything for you and your students!" Hotaka replied, draping an arm around the woman's shoulder._

"_And you're such a handsome man too Hotaka-kun. Is there anything I can do to repay you?" Misaki cooed, her eyes wide like two pools of glimmering emeralds._

Hotaka laughed perversely to himself. "Oh Misaki-chan, no it's okay…well, if you really want to let me rest in your lap I guess I can't refuse…"

Gai tilted his head in confusion. "What is he doing?" He asked.

"Beats me," Babarusu replied, "adults can be weird sometimes."

"Maybe the potato hit him too hard." Gai shrugged.

Hotaka finally came back from his fantasy world after realizing he was being watched. He cleared his throat. "Well, as a Jonin of this village it is my responsibly to make sure that all younger ninjas are trained properly. It wouldn't be right of me to just let you go off on your own when you need assistance."

Gai's eyes lit up. "Really? So you'll help me?" He cheered.

Hotaka smiled. "Of course, and don't feel embarrassed to tell Misaki-chan all about your training exercises, I'm sure she'll be very interested to know who…er, I mean WHAT you work while she is gone."

Gai was only half registering him in his excitement. "So what are we going to do today huh? More chakra training? Do we need to find some trees?" He asked excitedly.

Hotaka laughed nervously. "No…no…I think we did enough of that last time."

_I need to find a way to train this kid without having to work a lot myself. He might kill me this time!_

Hotaka rapidly tried to think up an idea of what to do and luckily, came up with a bright idea. "Come with me." He said, heading down the street. Gai quickly followed along, hopping a little as he followed the teacher to the training space.

They finally arrived at what looked like an old dojo. Hotaka carefully slid the door open and stepped inside. Gai followed in behind him. The space was too dark to tell what was inside at first. Hotaka walked across the room and slid open the back windows, allowing the light to spill in. It revealed a large number of oddly shaped wooden posts. They looked a bit like people, but were much taller in size and had a number of extra appendages.

"Here we are. Your training space for today." Hotaka smiled proudly.

Gai looked around curiously. "What is this place sensei?" He asked.

"This is a taijutsu training center." He replied. "It's designed for beginner ninjas to build up their skills."

"Taijutsu? You mean hand to hand combat?" Gai asked.

Hotaka nodded. "Yes, exactly. You'll be working on your taijutsu today." He said.

Gai nodded and struck an initial stance. "Very well sensei. I am prepared to spar with you."

Hotaka put up his hands in defence. "No. No. No. You will not be fighting with me today." He said.

Gai cocked his head slightly. "Why not?"

"Because…because you are not at a level yet where you can fight me. While it is important to fight stronger opponents than yourself to become better, fighting someone well above your skill level will only hold you back. You will not learn anything if you are just getting slaughtered all the time in a fight" He explained.

"I see…I suppose that makes sense." Gai mused.

_That and I do not want to spend 8 hours kicking and punching with you!_

"So who will I be fighting today sensei?" Gai asked.

Hotaka walked over to one of the wooden manikins. "With these." He replied.

"But…that's just a post!" Gai demanded.

"Watch and learn." Hotaka said. He struck an initial fighting stance and landed a hard punch into the side of the post. The hit cause the post of creak slightly and the sound of gears clicking together could be heard. Within a matter of seconds, one of the appendages swung out at the Jonin. Hotaka quickly blocked the attack and then threw another swift kick. He continued these movements for a few minutes as Gai watched on in awe.

Finally, after assuming his point had been made, the man jumped back from the post and walked over to Gai. "You see? The mechanisms inside the post respond to your attacks simulating an actual fight. Each post in here is designed to be more reactive and complicated than the last. This side of the room has the easiest opponents and the ones at the other end are more difficult. You will start with this one and once you are comfortable you will move on to the next and then the next."

"I see, but perhaps I should try taking on the strongest opponent first to see how I do!" Gai shouted and ran to the other end of the room.

"Wait! What are you doing?" Hotaka shouted after him.

Gai stared at the manikin in front of him. "Piece of cake." He snorted.

"Screw this, I'm out of here." Babarusu said, leaping off Gai's shoulder and waddling to safety.

Gai lunged towards to post full tilt and kicked hard into the side of the manikin. The sound of gears rapidly working could be heard and the doll came to life, taking a swing at him. Gai quickly blocked the attack. "This is easy!" He said. He then noticed the movement out of the corner of his right eye as two more appendages came hurtling in his direction and hit him square in the head and hip. The contact sent him flying across the room and he landed in a mangled pile at the teacher's feet. He looked up at Hotaka who was leaning over him smiling.

"How about you start with the easy one and work your way up?" Hotaka asked.

"Good...good idea." He replied. Gai lifted himself off the ground and turned his attention to the smaller manikin his teacher had attacked earlier. A little apprehensive, he took a swing at the manikin. This one was quite a bit slower and he was able to block it with ease. He then took another punch at the manikin and then proceeded to block the next attack. This was much better. He continued to work like this but became distracted when he noticed the Jonin teacher leaving the dojo.

"Sensei? Where are you going?" He asked in mid duck.

The teacher turned nervously. "Uh…um…I was…I was going to get you a training breakfast. Can't have you working without proper nutrition now can we?" He said.

"Of course! Thank you sensei!" Gai beamed back.

Hotaka continued to walk out the door. "Idiot." He muttered to himself.

_This is perfect. I get all the credit with Misaki-chan and I don't have to be worked to death by this freaky kid!_

Gai continued to work hard, kicking and punching at the manikin, becoming quicker with his movements as time went on. Babarusu watched him from a table he had found in the corner silently.

After a few more minutes of watching him practice, Babrusu couldn't remain quite about the situation any longer. "You realize what just happened right?" He asked.

Gai looked over at the small turtle in confusion, while trying to focus on defending against the training post. "What?"

"That teacher…he's a bum. He just abandoned you here." Babarusu replied.

"What are you talking about? He went to get me food." Gai demanded.

"He's a liar. Even I could see that." Babarusu sighed.

"No way! He's training me! A teacher would not abandon his student!" Gai shouted. In the heat of his argument, Gai forgot to watch for the response mechanism in the training post and was swiftly knocked to his knees when the arm hit him in the back of the shoulders.

Gai sat on the ground silently for a minute.

"You're too naïve Gai." The little turtle sighed.

"What on earth are you doing Gai?" Came a voice from the entryway of the dojo. Gai snapped his head in the direction of the voice and could see Koji staring at him with a smug grin as he leaned on the frame of the door.

Gai stood up embarrassed to have been caught knocked over and brushed himself off. He tried to play it cool as possible. "I am training with Hotaka-sensei." He replied.

Koji looked around the room. "The only thing I see is that pet turtle of yours." He replied.

"I'm not a pet!"

"He just went to get some food while I continue training." Gai demanded.

"Gai, I just saw Hotaka-sensei on my way up the street. He was talking about going to the hot springs for the afternoon. He's not coming back to train you."

"That's a lie!"

"No. You're just too stupid to realize he doesn't want to train you!" Koji snapped.

Gai used every bit of strength he had to keep his anger in check. "Fine!" He huffed. "I can train myself!"

"You'll never get anywhere working like that." Koji sighed.

"You just wait and see. By the end of the week, I'll be good enough to kick your butt around the training grounds!" Gai shot back.

Koji snorted. "As if. My taijutsu skills far out do yours. One week won't even bring you up to a level to be entertaining for me to fight. Just accept that you can't beat me…"

"Never! You just wait. I will take you on. End of the week. I'll beat you or its 1000 push-ups!" Gai shouted.

Koji shook his head. "You always over do things Gai. If you really want to make a fool of yourself fine, go ahead. You are going to lose though. You shouldn't make such ridiculous bets when there is so little chance of you winning." He explained.

"I will beat you. Now leave me alone. I have to train." Gai said, returning his attention to the manikin in front of him. Koji shook his head and walked out of the door. As he headed down the street, he noticed Riko approaching.

"Hello Koji-san" She said with a wave.

"Good morning Riko-san." He replied.

"What were you doing in that old dojo?" She asked.

"Just watching our foolish teammate. He seems to be determined to make an idiot of himself." He replied and continued to walk past her and down the street without further explanation.

Riko walked up to the entranceway and peered in. She could see Gai hard at work trying to defeat the combination of attacks the manikin was throwing at him.

"Gotta work hard. Gotta get stronger!" He grunted to himself. "Gotta- Beat- Koji!"

Riko felt a little sorry for him as she watched from the door. With how hard he was working, he was likely to tire himself out before lunchtime. "Poor Gai." She said softly to herself as she walked away.

Babrusu continued to watch Gai working away. "You really want to beat that kid don't you?" He asked.

Gai gave a quick nod as he blocked the swinging appendage with the side of his knee.

"Why do you care so much about beating him? He doesn't seem that special."

"You wouldn't understand." Gai replied.

"Why not?"

"It's….I just need to beat him."

"Why? Will you get money?" Babarusu asked.

"No."

"Will you get free food?"

"No?"

"So what's so important about beating him?"

"Because…because he's Hyuuga Koji."

"So he's a special person in the village?" Babarusu tired to understand further.

"He's from a special family. A family that is very strong in the village." Gai tried to explain between hits.

"So you want to show how strong you are." Babarusu nodded.

"Sort of…I want…" Gai was having a hard time explaining it through the fatigue. "I want…"

His motions had become sloppy and the manikin hit him a few times, causing him to fall back. He wiped the sweat from his face. "I want him to acknowledge that I am strong. He's…he's a rival for me. If I can beat him, people will have to see that I am strong."

"But Gai, I know you are strong. Why do you need to prove that to everyone else?"

"Because I'm tired of being a loser!" He snapped, punching his fists into the ground in frustration.

The silence was so sudden and thick you could have cut it with a knife. Gai stood up and walked over to the table, taking a seat next to it.

"I'm tired of everyone thinking I'm a weirdo that can't do anything. I want to show them…Riko, Sensei, Koji….I want them to look at me the way they look at the other strong ninjas in the village. I want to be respected like them." Gai explained. "If I can beat a strong ninja like Koji, I won't be a loser anymore."

"I see…" Babarusu said thoughtfully. "Well, you're not going to get any stronger just hitting that doll like that."

"Nani?"

"No…just learning to block a few stiff attacks isn't gonna teach you anything. You need moves!" Babarusu explained.

Gai tucked his head down into his bent up knees as he huddled into the wall. "But how am I supposed to learn any moves. According to Koji, Hotaka-sensei abandoned me." He frowned.

"We'll I can try and help you." Babarusu offered.

"Ha!" Gai laughed. "How are you going to help me?" Gai reached out and grabbed one of Babarusu's little legs. "There is no way you know taijutsu, your arms are too short!"

The little turtle glared. "Just 'cause I can't do it, doesn't mean I don't know it! My grandfather has worked with the greatest ninjas across the lands. I've even followed him on some of the missions. I've seen a lot of different techniques. Sometimes, my grandpa would pay ninjas by teaching them techniques he would see other ninjas use in order to get things he needed." The turtle explained.

Gai hopped up on his knees and clutched to the side of the table. "So then…you know some super powerful moves?" His eyes began to light up.

"We'll…I don't know a lot, but I can get you started. Even if you just have some good basics it might help you get better."

"Then please! Teach me Babarusu-sensei!" He cried.

The little turtle paled a bit. "Don't call me that…it's weird."

"Sorry."

"Alright then. For starters, you really need to change your initial stance, it's too sloppy." Babarusu explained. "Stand more upright and keep one hand forward as a guard. You always have to be ready."

"Alright."

"Now…for the hard part…"

Riko approached the dojo for the second time that day. She'd expected Gai to have left by now, since it was halfway through the afternoon, but the distinct sound of clacking could be heard through the door. She peered in, half expecting to see someone else at work, but sure enough, there he was working away like mad.

"That's it, now throw your other foot across behind the first one…just a little lower. This prevents the opponent from getting away if they duck."

"I see. It's so simple!"

_Wow, it looks like he's gotten a lot better already_. Riko mused to herself.

"Gai? Don't you think it's time you took a break?" The little turtle asked.

"Nonsense. I'm fine. I could go for hours!" The little boy cheered.

"But you haven't really eaten or…" Babarusu didn't manage to finish the sentence. He had notice the young boy looking a tad faint earlier but now he was watching him slowly careen into the floor.

THUD!

"Gai!" Riko shouted as she ran into the room.

"I tried to tell him he was over doing it." The turtle sighed. "He just wanted to keep going though."

Riko gently lifted the boy up off the floor and dragged him to the corner. She propped him up as best she could.

"He's really been working like this all day?" She asked.

Babarusu nodded. "He's really quite dumb when it comes to knowing his own limits. He's so focused on beating that teammate of yours that he just won't take a break."

"I see…"

"High kick!" Gai half shouted in his sleep, twitching a little which made Riko jump back from him.

_Is he still training in his sleep?_ She wondered.

Gai came to a short hour later. He shook the sleep from his head and looked around. He found himself wrapped in a warm blanket in the corner. Babarusu was sound asleep on the table. Gai stood up and placed the blanket in the corner. He walked over to the little snoring turtle and gave him a tap on the shell. "Oi!" He said. "Wake up."

The turtle drowsed from his sleep. "Huh? Oh, Gai, you're up." The turtle smiled.

"How long was I out for?" He asked.

"About an hour. You really need to be more careful how much you push yourself. It's not healthy." Babarusu tried to explain.

"But, if I don't keep working, I'll never be ready for the end of the week!" Gai demanded.

"We'll you won't be able to train if you keep brining yourself to the point of passing out!" The turtle snapped.

Gai crossed his arms over his chest and frowned. "Honestly! You sound like my mother." He said.

"You should realize your expectations are too high to begin with…well never mind that. Go eat your dinner. It's in the corner there." Babarusu gestured with his head. Gai peered over and sure enough, a lovely bento box was placed in the corner of the room.

"Where did that come from?" He asked, drooling slightly at the sight of the food. He really was very hungry.

"Uh…some ninja delivered it." Babarusu said nervously.

"_Tell Gai that I fixed him his dinner and I'll hallow you out into a shield for my father!"_

Man, that girl could be touchy.

Gai didn't register the nervous sound in the turtle's voice and devoured the meal like a man that hadn't eaten in weeks. He sat back content. "That was so good!" He sighed, patting his bloated belly.

"So are you ready to go home yet?" Babarusu asked.

"What? Are you crazy? The day isn't even over! No, I have to keep training." Gai said. He returned to the post with a new sense of determination.

"Gai, you're not going to progress any further today. You've already done enough." Babarusu tried to reason with him.

"I will only stop progressing if I stop!" He said as he started to take swings at the manikin.

"Gai…you're being ridiculous again."

Gai wasn't listening anymore. He had to focus. Every hit counted. _1,2,3…just keep focused._

"I won't stop getting stronger until I say so!" He shouted. He spun hard on his foot and kicked the manikin full force with his other heel. The wooden post gave a loud crack as it snapped at the midsection. The post remained standing awkwardly, with its top half now barely clinging to the base with a wide split in the side.

"Alright!" He shouted.

_Wow…that was actually pretty cool. _The little turtle thought.

Gai continued to work at the dojo for the remainder of the week on his own. Babarusu provided tips where he could, but his knowledge was still pretty limited. Gai managed to take the advice and turn it into a rather unique style of fighting that Babarusu had never seen before. The style was quite effective, though it was still not perfect. Babarusu got a little more nervous for the boy every day. He knew it was impossible for him to be ready within a week. He had seen Koji fight before and the boy was still well out of Gai's league. As impressive as Gai's hard work ethic was, being able to match the Hyuuga would take a substantially longer amount of time. There was no point telling Gai though, he probably wouldn't listen.

It was now the end of the week and with the exception of Riko and the odd curious civilian, no one had really gone into the dojo to see what all the noise was about. That was, until one early afternoon when Hotaka came strolling in. He didn't notice the young boy working as he was rather distracted by the pretty young thing wrapped around his waist.

"And this is one of the training dojos" He cooed as he stroked his hand down her arm. "Almost no one but me comes here regularly to work out." He said, half flexing his arm to ensure the young woman noticed his physique.

"What about that kid there?" The girl asked, pointing down the room.

Hotaka turned to see Gai at the end of the dojo, facing off with the manikin that had slaughtered him at the beginning of the week.

_What on earth is HE still doing here?_

Gai took his initial stance and took in a deep breath. This was it. Now or never. He lunged forward and landed a hard hit into the center of the manikin's torso with his fist. The wild clicking of the mechanisms inside began to whiz causing the doll to come to life. This time, Gai saw the attack on his right side and quickly blocked both hits. He then returned another hard kick into the lower part of the post, causing it to shake slightly. The top of the manikin suddenly popped open revealing a hidden arm within the top of the post. It came hurtling down full force. Gai used both his arms to block the attack and pushed the arm back into the air. With the only opening left he could see, Gai dropped to the ground the swung his foot around in a full circle as hard as he could. He made contact with the base of the post, breaking it away from the latches holding it to the ground. The post flew back violently against the wall and hit it full force, smashing it into a number of pieces.

"Alright!" Gai shouted.

"Nice work!" Babarusu shouted from his table.

Hotaka stood stunned in his place.

"Wow." The pretty girl next to him said. "Did he do that to all the posts in this room?"

Hotaka's head shot around wildly, finally noticing the rest of the damage that had been done to the room. All the posts were either broken or tipped over in some awkward fashion. It looked like a hurricane had been through the room. Gai finally noticed the teacher by the doorway.

"Sensei! Look at how much I accomplished!" He beamed.

"You fool! What have you done to the dojo?" He cried.

"I did as you asked. I defeated all the training posts in the room." He replied.

"I didn't mean for you to demolish them? And how on earth did you manage to beat this all in one week?" He demanded.

"Through hard work!" He cheered back, giving him a toothy grin and a thumbs up. "Now I can take on anyone!"

"Gai, this is just a beginner's dojo. Just because you beat the manikins in here doesn't mean you're all powerful." The little turtle cut in. Gai was too busy celebrating his victory to hear what the turtle had said though.

"Wow, what an impressive little boy!" The girl cooed. "You trained him Hotaka-kun?"

He smiled proudly. "Well…er..um…of course. He wouldn't have advanced nearly as rapidly without my help." The man explained.

"You left him here alone all week." Babarusu interjected.

"Shut up!" Hotaka snapped. Hotaka then noticed that Gai had ran over to the little turtle and picked him up.

"There's no time to waste. We have to get going." Gai said.

"Where are you going?" The Jonin asked.

Gai stopped in at doorway and turned back to the teacher. "To finish a bet I made!" He replied and ran out into the street.

Hotaka returned his attention back to the woman in the room. "So, baby. How about we have a little 'training session' of our own?" He grinned.

The woman then quickly slapped him across the face and headed out the door. "Not a chance. Anyone who would leave a child alone for a whole week is never going to get with me!"

"But…but..you don't understand. That kid ...he's crazy!" He whined, following the woman. "He made me climb trees for 6 HOURS!"

Gai rushed down the streets, searching frantically. He really wasn't quite sure where to find Koji…he probably should have thought that through before hand, but he had a good feeling he knew where to look. Gai took a sharp turn around the corner and made a final sprint for the stairs. He looked up at the daunting staircase but new there was a good chance this is where he would be.

He'd often heard the guys in class talk about hanging out at the Hokage Lookout after school. Gai sprinted up the stairs and finally reached the top. He panted hard but was happy to see his search had not been in vain.

Ryota looked up at Gai with a frown. "Who invited bowl head?" He asked.

Koji sighed, placing down the playing cards in his hand. "What are you doing here Gai?"

Gai stood up as tall as he could and pointed at the white eyed boy. "I've come to challenge you!" He said.

Koji remained silent but smirked at him in amusement.

"Gai…did you hit your head or something?" Asuma asked as he pulled the piece of long grass he'd been chewing on out of his mouth.

"Go home Gai." Obito chimed in.

"No way. I said one week and I was serious!" Gai demanded.

"Gai, just get-"

"It's alright Obito." Koji said, cutting him off. "Let me just take care of this quickly and we can have our peace back."

Koji stepped forward, showing little interest in his teammate. "You're only going to make a fool of yourself." He warned him.

"We'll see about that!" Gai snapped.

"Hey, maybe we should take this down to one of the training grounds guys. I'd rather not piss off Asuma's dad." Ryota cut in.

"He's right. My dad can be a real pain about things like this." Asuma sighed. "If we mess up the lookout point, he'll be nagging be about it for months!"

Koji rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Fine, let's go." He said. "This is still a waste of time."

The boys filed down from the lookout point and headed towards the nearest training grounds. Obito, Asuma and Ryota took a seat on the edge of the field, leaving Gai and Koji standing alone in the middle.

"I'll give you one last chance to walk away." Koji said. "Or are you that desperate to be humiliated?"

Gai frowned at him. "The fight isn't over yet." He replied.

They stood in silence for a few minutes, which only annoyed the sideline spectators.

"Get on with it!" They shouted.

"Alright then. Here I come!" Gai shouted, charging fast at the Hyuuga.

END OF CHAPTER 9


	10. Chapter 10 Boys

The History of Konoha's Noble Green Beast

Chapter 10

Gai rushed forward with everything he had. Once he was within striking distance, he threw a hard hook with his right hand, which Koji swiftly blocked. Gai threw his other fist at Koji's gut, but the Hyuuga was quick enough to spot the attack and blocked it as well. Gai stepped back and swung his foot out in a high kick, which was quickly dodged and then another which was dodged again.

"Gai."

Swing

"Gai."

Punch.

"You are wasting your time." Koji said with little sign of interest still on his face as he continued to duck and dodge every move thrown at him.

The cocky behavior really pissed Gai off. Gai hopped back and reassessed his situation.

"Why are you wasting so much time Koji? Just finish the twerp off so we can go back to the lookout!" Ryota shouted out from the sidelines.

"Shut up!" Gai shouted back. "You're not in this fight!"

"You're right; I'm not stupid enough to pick a fight I can't win." Ryota shot back, which made the other two boys next to him laugh.

Gai grumbled under his breath and turned back to his opponent, who was still standing where he had been since the beginning of the face off.

"Are you even going to do anything?" Gai demanded.

Koji gave him a smirk. "If you insist." He replied with a casual shrug. Within an instant, the boy disappeared from in front of Gai.

Gai stood stunned in his place. _Where did he go?_

"Psst, behind you!" Came a quiet voice.

Gai turned in horror to see Koji directly behind him. He didn't even have time to think before the kick landed square in the middle of his back and sent him flying. Gai rolled forward on the grass, wincing in pain.

"Oi, what's the deal." Obito said, tilting his head to the side a bit.

"What do you mean?" Asuma asked.

"Why doesn't Koji just throw on his Byakugan and finish him off?" He asked.

"Apparently it's strictly a taijutsu fight. Koji mentioned something about Gai challenging him the other day and if it's a taijutsu fight only, using Byakugan would be cheating." Asuma explained.

"Oh." Obito said. He felt Ryota give him a slap on the back.

"Just relax man! Koji doesn't need to waste Byakugan on Gai anyways. The winner of this fight is obvious." Ryota said with a smile.

Gai coughed a little but scurried back to his feet, knowing another attack was inevitable. He positioned himself, with his guard ready, he would have to be more careful about attacks from behind now.

Gai looked over at the arrogant Hyuuga, who was standing with his hand on his hip and his signature grin, which made Gai's blood boil over the top. _Just treat him like the last training post in the dojo. You have to be ready for anything._ He coached himself on the inside.

Koji vanished in another body flicker. Gai checked over his shoulder but found nothing, then quickly realized there was a shadow hovering above him. He looked up just in time to see the black sole of Koji's sandal come careening down into his face.

The boys on the sidelines squinted to try to see through the dust that had blown up from the attack. Once it had settled, Koji could be seen standing in the middle of the small divot, he had made in the ground and Gai was standing about 10 feet off to the side panting.

_That was close. _Gai thought as he rubbed the deep bruise now forming on his cheek. _He hit me, but if I hadn't moved when I did, I would have been crater paste!_

Gai could hear the boys on the sidelines laughing again.

"Koji, this is funny and all but stop fooling around. It's like watching a cat play with a half dead mouse!" Ryota shouted out.

"I am not a half dead mouse you jerk!" Gai shouted back.

"Face it Gai." Koji said as he began to approach again. "I'm just toying with you."

Gai felt his rage overflowing. He could not take much more of these taunts. He couldn't possibly be that much weaker than Koji. Gai took a moment to brush himself off and re-center his mind. There was no way he was letting Koji beat him like this.

Realizing Gai was not going to make a move, Koji launched himself towards Gai with a mid height kick. Gai was actually ready for the assault this time and blocked the kick with his forearm. He saw the fast movement out of the corner of his eye as Koji's second leg came hurtling at him.

_Not this time._

Gai used his other free hand to grab his teammate by the ankle. He turned it hard to the outside causing Koji to flinch in pain. Instinctively, Koji followed the motion with the rest of his body to protect his ankle from being twisted or broken. Gai took the opportunity to land a hard punch in the middle of Koji's back, which sent the boy into the ground.

The boys on the sideline stood with their jaws dropped. "No way! Did he just hurt Koji?" Obito cried out.

"That's impossible." Ryota snorted and then looked nervously at both his friends. "…right?"

Koji lifted himself up off the ground and wiped the dirt from his face. He was pissed, but felt grateful none of his family had witnessed him being attacked by such an armature.

"Congratulations Fuzzy Eyebrows." Koji smirked, trying to play it cool. "You landed a hit. I under estimated you. Don't worry though, it won't happen again."

Gai was getting more furious with how arrogant the boy was being. He could not keep his emotions in check any longer.

"Let's go then. Dainamikku-Akushyon!" Gai shouted. He leapt up into the air and did a rather acrobatic flip. Koji braced his arms in an x expecting a downward kick but was surprised by the sudden punch to his face.

"He hit him again!" Obito shouted. "Am I seeing things right. He hit him didn't he?" He pulled off his goggles and wiped them on his shirt to make sure his vision wasn't the issue.

"Koji must not be feeling well or something." Asuma tried to reason.

"Hey Koji! Stop letting that bowl-headed loser hit you and finish this…it's embarrassing!" Obito shouted out at his friend.

Koji was normally a levelheaded person. Normally, he showed a sort of poise about him that couldn't be broken by the hardest of steels yet right now, he felt like a 5 year old that had had his favorite toy taken away from him. He was mad…really mad.

Koji wiped his lip and frowned. The sight his own blood only fueled his anger. "This ends now." He hissed. With that, he lunged forward at the green-suited boy.

Before he reached him, he vanished in another boy flicker. Gai dropped quickly into a squat to avoid the attack from behind and swept his leg around to take out Koji's legs. He was nearly successful but Koji managed to jump out of the way before his feet were taken out from under him. Koji disappeared in a flicker again and reappeared by Gai's side. This time he landed a hard kick into the side of Gai's head. Gai felt his brain rattling in his head as he went careening into the grass a few feet away. He was about to get back up when he felt a pressure on his throat holding him in place. He looked up to see Koji, pressing his foot firmly into his throat.

"At this point, if I push hard enough, it will kill you. The fight is over." Koji said in a calm tone, though on the inside he was still raging and contemplated pressing down harder.

Gai looked up at him with a defiant glare. They held their position for a few moments and then Gai finally tapped his ankle, indicating defeat. Koji stepped back and waited for Gai to get up. The boy kept his head down as he lifted himself off the ground.

"Look at him. He looks so humiliated." Ryota commented.

"Gai….you should have known bet-" Koji began to lecture but was cut off by the happy chuckling of his teammate.

Gai looked up at him with a smile. "We'll it appears I've been beaten and a promise is a promise." He said, giving him a thumbs up. "1000 pushup just like I said."

Koji shook his head. _How can he be so positive after that?_

Gai immediately dropped down on the ground and started doing pushups. "One, Two, Three, Four…" He said in-between grunts.

Koji sighed and walked away towards his friends that were waiting for him.

Obito looked past Koji and the odd display in the field. "What is he doing?" Obito asked.

"Being Gai, let's go." Koji replied, not bothering to look back as he headed down the hill. The other boys shared a quick glance and then shrugged it off, leaving Gai alone in the middle of the clearing.

To be honest, he was not entirely alone. Another individual had been watching from up on a tree branch on the other side of the field quietly. She had been drawn over by the sounds of shouting and was very surprised to find two of her students going at it. Now, that Gai was on his own, she decided it was best to go up and talk to him. As she approached, she could hear him counting away the push ups. He was so focused; he didn't even notice her presence until she was hovering over him. Gai paused in mid pushup and looked up at the unexpected visitor.

"Misaki-sensei!" He shouted. "You're back!"

Misaki gave him a weak smile, trying best to hide how tired and emotionally strung out she was from the trip. "Hello Gai-kun. What are you doing?" She asked.

Gai continued with his push-ups. "I lost the bet, so I have to do 1000 push ups." He replied.

Misaki looked around at the deserted field. "But Gai, no one is watching you, and don't you think 1000 pushups is an awful lot for losing one sparring match?"

Gai paused again. "You saw us fighting?" He asked.

She gave him a nod. "At first, I was a little disappointed. I do hate watching you two fight all the time, but to be honest, I was rather impressed with your fighting Gai, you've improved quite a bit for just a week."

Gai felt his eyes well up with tears. "Thank you sensei!" He whimpered.

She replied with a nervous smile. "Don't…don't worry about it." She said. Gai was always so excited when she gave him praise…it was a little weird for her. "Really though Gai, you can stop doing the push ups. No one is watching you and I don't think those boys cared that much to begin with. I won't tell anybody if it makes you feel better." She said.

"But, what good are my promises if I don't keep them?" He said in between presses.

"I suppose that's true, but why not set the punishment a little lower then, such a high number of pushups is ridiculous!" She replied.

Gai finally stopped completely and sat back on his heels. "Sensei…do you think I can become a good ninja?" He asked.

Misaki gave him a dubious look. "Of course Gai, as I said before if you work hard I think you will become a great ninja." She answered.

"We'll I have been working hard. I've decided one of the best ways to do that is to set really high expectations for myself…so…even if I fail, maybe something good will come out of it." He explained. He hopped forward again and returned to doing push up. "So, if I can do 1000 push ups…maybe it will make me stronger and I'll be able to beat him next time."

Misaki stood in silence. _So, this is going to be your way. _She thought.

"This is how I will become better. It's my new rule. What is the point of working hard if I don't believe I will become stronger for it?" He grunted.

Misaki smiled a genuine smile for the first time in a week. She looked at the sky and determined it was likely sunset soon. She had planned to rush home to see Kushina but knew Minato was probably already there checking on her. Kushina would understand if she was a little late. Misaki took a seat next to the boy who looked at her out of curiosity as he continued to go through the motions.

"We'll if you're not going to take a break; the least I can do is stay here and make sure you don't kill yourself." She smiled.

Gai returned her smile and turned back to his pushups. "In that case, I will work twice as hard so you will only have to stay half as long!" He said.

"I said don't kill yourself!" She snapped back.

She watched him work in silence for a little while and could not help but admire his determination. "Keep it up Gai-kun. Only 912 more to go!" She cheered.

"Yes sensei!" He shouted back.

It took quite a while, but Gai managed (with some struggling) to finish all the pushups. Misaki returned home to find Minato there as expected, passing on the news to their friend. Kushina had cried pretty hard about it. The reports had been very kind in the information they had provided. The damaged to the Whirl Pool was undoable. The land was literally a crater. Anyone who had escaped had been on the outskirts during the incident and many of those who had managed to live, died shortly after from their injuries.

Misaki had not even been able to fully describe what she had seen. The land was cooked, yet there was no source for the fire. Whatever had destroyed this place had come and gone. The air was thick with a feeling of a dark menacing chakra that neither Misaki nor Minato had ever felt before. They had scanned the lands as best they could for survivors, but had ended their search early; when the weight of the dark chakra became too heavy for them to bear. It seemed the closer they got to the center of the damage, the thicker it became. They had even opted for going to the outskirt of the country to villages that were harboring survivors. They had managed to find a few, but they were mostly shell shocked from the experience. The only description they were able to get was a bright red glow that howled like a wild wind and that brought forth earthquakes and fire.

Minato knew nothing that could even fit that description but when they gave their report to the Hokage, he mentioned a legendary animal that may have fit the description, but reports of such a creature were just that…legendary. There hadn't been record of such a beast attacking a country in eons, but from the look of worry in the old mans eyes, the pair of Jonin's could tell he may have been giving it idea second thoughts.

They say that time heals all wounds, yet anyone who has ever had to depend on time for healing knows that it never fully removes our injuries.

Kushina stayed in the village, acting at a Jonin level but primarily kept busy teaching specialized ninja skills to students and arranging the Chuunin exams. The other Chuunin coordinators saw her as a godsend since she seemed to be able to accomplish what had taken them forever to put together. She attended the odd mission but never went out of her way to take on too many. Misaki suspected it had to do with the Whirl Pool incident yet never brought it up. It had been almost 2 years since the disaster and Kushina was starting to smile again.

Minato, clearly still head over heels in love with the woman, continued to pursue her. He managed to get the odd date with her but their schedules made it hard for them to have any real form of a relationship. Misaki mentioned a couple of times how happy she was to finally see them dating. This usually just resulted in Kushina yelling at her that they were not together and Minato blushing furiously.

Minato used to hate seeing the girls fight all the time, yet now, it made him really happy. It told him Kushina was starting to feel better…to be happy again.

"He is not my boyfriend!"

"Minato and Kushina! Minato and Kushina!" Misaki taunted back in a lyrical tone.

"Knock it off before I knock you out!" Kushina snapped.

The sun shone down fiercely on the walkways of the village as civilians went about their daily lives. It was an unusually hot day, even for the time of year but no one really complained since it was at least more enjoyable than the rainy seasons.

No one was aware of the pair or dark eyes shifting in the shadows, keeping a look out for any possible threats. After determining that the coast was clear, the boy took off down the dark alley and headed for his target location. He clutched the prize under his jacket tightly, feeling the pride bubbling up in his chest. He was going to top all of them today with this little gem!

He made the final sprint across the open walkway and reached the tiny grove that was well sheltered by trees and heavy brush. Upon breaking through to the open space, he was met by three startled faces that quickly relaxed upon seeing who it was.

"Yo." Obito said, taking a seat next to his friends.

"About time you got here. We figured you'd been caught." Asuma said in a hushed voice.

Normally on days off, the boys would just play cards or something. Today was a different though since earlier in the week, during one of their get-togethers, they had come up with a rather odd competition. The goal was to see who could swipe the best object from their homes without being caught. Sort of a game of stealth that was liable to get them killed, but each boy had been a little excited at the prospect of getting to play around with taboo items.

"No. No…I was just being careful. Had to make sure I wasn't caught with what I'm carrying." Obito explained, patting the front of his vest.

"We'll there's no way your item is better than mine." Asuma smiled. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small packet. "Ta da!" He said.

The boys looked on with interest at the item. "What's that?" Ryota asked.

"It's cigarettes. I swiped them out of my dad's desk drawer. He normally smokes on his pipe, but I've caught him using these a few times." He explained.

"Aren't those bad for you?" Ryota asked.

"We'll, if they are so bad, why do you see adults always using them? I see really cool people using them all the time!" Asuma replied.

"Let's try them!" Obito said excitedly. "I want to know what's so great about them."

Ryota sniffed the package. "I think my nose is too sensitive for those things." He said.

"Wuss." Obito teased.

"Shut up! My family is renowned for their sense of smell. I can't go damaging it with those things!" He said.

"Suit yourself." Asuma shrugged. He lit the cigarette in his hand with the lighter he had also swiped from his father. He handed the lit stick out to the silent white-eyed boy in the group. "Here Koji, you can have the first one."

Koji took the cigarette and examined it. After a few moments, he took a puff in. His face quickly turned green and he started to cough. "Gross!" He gagged. "It tastes like that smell behind the butcher shop when that old guy burns all the rotten meat!"

"Ew. Gross. I don't want to try that." Obito said.

"Aw, come on! You'll be a chicken like Ryota if you don't." Asuma teased.

"I'm not a chicken. I just have my priorities." He demanded.

"Fine." Obito sighed, taking the cigarette from the coughing boy. He quickly took a puff and started to cough. "You're wrong, it's worse than that smell behind the butcher shop!" He choked.

Asuma took the cigarette from Obito and took a puff himself. He coughed pretty hard as well. "Yeah, it does taste pretty terrible." He frowned. He slipped the box back in his pocket. "Not sure how my old man always uses these things."

"Maybe you have to practice at it or something." Obito suggested, wiping the tears out from under his goggles from coughing too hard.

"Alright, what else did everyone bring?" Asuma asked.

Ryota reached into his pocket. "I brought a little bottle of sake I found on my mothers table. It's been sitting there forever. Unfortunately there isn't much left in it." He said shaking the bottle.

"We'll, it's still pretty cool. Let's try it." Obito said. Each boy took a turn taking a swig from the bottle.

"Bleh, it's not very good." Asuma frowned.

"Better than that stupid cigarette." Koji chimed in.

"Very true." Obito added.

"Alright you whiners...What did you bring?" Asuma said crossing his arms over his chest.

Obito could not hold it in any longer. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his new prized possession. "Check this out!" He said.

The boys stared over at the little orange novel in his hands. "Is that…that's the Icha Icha Paradise book!" Koji shouted in disbelief.

Obito was beaming with pride. "That's right. Adults only!" He smiled.

"How on earth did you get your hands on something like that?" Ryota asked suspiciously.

"The author himself gave it to me." He beamed.

"The author: Jiraiya-sama himself gave you this book?" Asuma asked with a skeptical glance.

"That's right, the other day I met him!" Obito explained.

"Team, today is very special. Today you are going to meet my sensei from when I was a Genin." Minato said with a smile as his team followed him down the street.

"Really? We're going to meet a real Sannin?" Rin said with excitement. She'd heard about the Sannin since she was little. They were legendary throughout the Fire Country and today they were actually going to get to meet one in person!

"So which of the Sannin was your teacher sensei?" Obito asked.

"Jiraiya-sensei." Minato beamed at his students. He was actually very excited to see the man. He had been off traveling for so long; it would be nice to finally catch up with him.

"He's the Gama Sannin right?" Obito asked.

"Yes, that's right. Be sure to behave in front of him. He's a very powerful man." Minato added.

"Yes sensei." They replied.

Minato pulled back the drape and stepped into the shop with his students close in toe. He looked around and finally laid eyes on the back of his teacher's head.

"Jiraiya-sensei!" He called out. The man turned sluggishly and looked over his shoulder. His eyes were droopy and he was clutching to a cup of sake.

"Minato-kun…ssssso good to see you." He said with a big smile, taking another drink.

"Sensei….are you…are you drunk?" He asked.

"Maybe I am…maybe I'm not." The man slurred as he swayed back and forth in his seat.

"Sensei…why are you drunk?"

"How did you know!" He cried in shock, grabbing the edge of the table to steady himself.

"Sensei…Remember? I was going to introduce you to my students. How could you be so careless?" Minato sighed disappointedly.

"Well…I was aaaall ready to meet ur students. Then Tsunade showed up. Did you know she was it town? I didn't. Girl drinks like a fish. I couldn't just let her drink alone!" He demanded pointing to the mess on the table. Sure enough, the small booth Jiraiya was situated in was littered with a number of cups and sake bottles.

"Sensei…" Minato sighed again.

"No really…she drinks like a fish. I think she stores it all in her enormous-"

Minato quickly slapped his hand over his teacher's mouth and laughed nervously.

"Anyways, these are my students." He said, trying to work with the situation as best he could. "This is Rin, Obito and Kakashi."

Jiraiya looked the group of students over. His eyes landed on Kakashi and he scratched his chin. You look familiar. Where have I seen you before? You look exactly like…oh what's his name… now I've forgotten."

Kakashi looked down at his feet, his eyes saddening at the memory of his father being prodded at. Minato quickly placed a hand on his student's shoulder trying to comfort him.

Jiraiya snapped his fingers. "I've got it! You look just like Minato! Yeah that was his name. He was a student of mine ya know?"

The group of ninja's paled a little.

"Sensei…I'm Minato!" The blonde-haired man demanded in frustration.

Jiraiya looked up with surprise. "Minato-kun! When d'you get here?" He asked with a dubious look on his face.

Minato smiled sheepishly and hung his head. "I'm going to get you some tea." He muttered. "You three, come with me." He ordered.

There was no way he was leaving those three alone with him in this state. He was liable to tell them something embarrassing about his past or worse…scar them with some topic they were just too young for.

Obito followed slowly behind the group but was held back by a strong arm on his shoulder. "Psst. Hey you there." Jiraiya said.

Obito turned around and looked at the man. "How old are you?" Jiraiya asked.

Obito titled his head to the side with a frown. "I'm nineteen." He said, his voice laced with sarcasm.

The Sannin's eyes lit up with delight. "Really, you're so small for a nineteen year old! You must have a hard time with the ladies." He said.

Obito frowned further. "I was only jo-" He began to explain but didn't manage to finish his sentence before the man shoved a little book into his hands. The symbols on the front making it very clear he should not be holding this.

"Here ya go. My treat. Be sure n'tell all your other short friends about it too. It's gonna be a huge hit!" He said before lulling back down into his drink. Obito stared blankly at the man before him that was now drooling into his sake cup.

Obito's hands remained frozen tightly around the little novel. He'd heard of the book before, and was well aware that this was not something he should be able to get on his own. He heard the approaching footsteps of his team and quickly shoved the book into his waist pocket without being noticed.

Minato shook his head, seeing the man asleep in his own sake.

Obito decided to cover his tracks before he looked suspicious. "He just started rambling and then passed out into his drink." He explained.

Minato gave a defeated sigh, set the tea down and ushered the students to the door. "I'm so sorry you three; this isn't what I wanted you to see. We'll visit him another time."

_After I have a very long talk with him. _Minato thought to himself.

Obito could not help but notice Kakashi watching him out of the corner of his eye. He gave the Chuunin a quick glare and then walked a bit faster a head of him to avoid any unnecessary questioning.

"Whoa! That's amazing! Have you read any of it yet?" Ryota said, swiping the book up and flipping through it.

"A little bit. It's pretty awesome. I mean, just read the first few paragraphs." He grinned.

The little boy's eyes flew over the words, his face growing redder with every sentence. He started to laugh to himself.

"Let me see!" Asuma said, reaching and out taking the book away.

"Hey, I was still reading that!" Ryota growled, reaching out for the book again.

"When do I get to see it?" Koji demanded, taking hold of another side.

"Stop it! You're going to ruin my book!" Obito shouted, also grabbing hold.

"It's my turn."

"Shut up, you already read some."

"I haven't even gotten to touch it yet!" Koji added.

"It was my turn!"

"What are you four doing back here?" came another voice.

"Oh, crap!" They all shouted. The boys dropped the book and took off for the trees. Obito was about to run off as well but paused and looked back at the book. He couldn't just leave it behind. He ran back and picked it up, only to find a pair of black sandals in front of him. He looked up with a frown.

"You." He said with a glare.

"What are you doing back here, Obito?" Kakashi demanded.

"None of your business." He snubbed the silver haired boy and he began to tuck the book into his pocket. Kakashi eyed the book with interest.

"Isn't that an adult book?" Kakashi asked, recognizing the symbol on the cover.

"So what if it is?" Obito shot back.

"You're not old enough to read something like that." Kakashi demanded. "Give it here."

"You're not old enough to read this book either. Like hell I'm giving it to you!" He snapped.

Kakashi sighed. "I'm not going to read it. I'm going to return it to a proper adult."

"Everything is about the freaking rules with you!" He growled.

"The rules are in place to keep order." Kakashi replied, sticking out his hand. "Hand it over."

"What you going to do if I don't?" He crossed his arms over his chest.

"I'll be sure to report you to Minato-sensei. As you superior, it is my duty. I'm sure he'll be thrilled to know you're holding onto adult products illegally."

Obito shoved the book into Kakashi's chest. "Just take it." He growled and turned to walk away. He looked over his shoulder. "Asshole." He hissed and then vanished into the brush.

Kakashi stood silently for a moment, examining the book in his hands. What was the big deal with this thing anyways? Out of shear curiosity he flipped open the front page and read a few lines. He had convinced himself since he was already a Chuunin he should be more than mature enough to just browse the front out of curiosity and then return it where it belonged.

But, as the story goes…this was not the case.

Kakashi felt his face beginning to flush with every word. The lines were so beautifully woven together and the descriptions….oh the descriptions. Kakashi finally managed to force himself to close the book.

"I…I shouldn't be reading this." He said to himself. It was wrong…it was against the rules…it was…it was…

Kakashi stared down at the orange paperback.

Read me….

_No…I can't…_

Read me!

_It's wrong…the rules say you have to be at least 18 to read this book._

So…whose gonna find out?

_That doesn't make it right._

But I'm so interesting. Come on, I had you hooked on the first line.

_Why am I having an inner argument with a book?_

Come on, just a few more pages and then you can return me where I belong.

Kakashi looked around the area cautiously. No one was around, he was sure he couldn't feel anyone's chakra. He shook his head violently.

"No, it's against the rules." He demanded and took off toward the village. As he went along, he looked at the book clutched in his hands. _What could just reading a little bit of the book do? It isn't going to hurt anybody. It's not like it's part of the NINJA laws…just the…city…laws…_

_Stop trying to justify it to yourself! _Kakashi yelled inside his head.

He continued towards the center of the village, picking up pace to try to distract himself. He didn't want to read it that bad…right? He finally reached the main walkways and decided it was best to take the rooftops; he didn't want to get yelled at for carrying the book.

_Or are you afraid someone might take it away from you?_

Kakashi paused on the edge of the one of the buildings…he couldn't take the argument in his head any longer. He sat down on the roof, obscured by some paneling and flipped open the book.

_I can always return if afterwards._

Misaki gave a large stretch and a yawn as she watched her students working in the training field. Today they were testing the accuracy of their senses.

"Oi, Koji, keep that blindfold over your eyes and no Byakugan. This isn't a test for your bloodline limit." Masaki ordered from the tree stump.

"Yes sensei." He replied, keeping his arms up and ready. He focused hard with his ears and tried to sense the chakra of his teammates, but they were doing a really good job keeping their levels low enough that he could detect them.

"Alright. Riko, whenever you're ready." Misaki ordered.

A few seconds passed with no movement and then quick as a flash, Koji sensed her rising chakra levels.

_To the left!_

He turned hard on his heel and blocked the attack directed at his ankles.

"Nice one Koji." Riko said, backing away from her blinded teammate.

He replied with a smirk and pulled off the blindfold. "I guess it's your turn now." He said, handing her the piece of fabric.

Riko tied the blindfold over her eyes. Koji quickly took off into the trees and dropped his chakra levels down to prevent her from sensing him.

"Alright, Gai, go for it." Misaki ordered.

"Hai, sensei!" Gai shouted from the bushes and charged towards Riko.

Having the time to hear his voice, Riko quickly dodged him and stuck out her foot, sending the boy forward onto his face. She quickly pulled the blindfold off. "Gai…you're supposed to be stealthy. Calling out to sensei before you attack gives away your location!" Riko chastised the young boy.

"Whoops." Gai laughed getting back up and scratching his head. "I guess I was a little too enthusiastic."

Misaki sighed and walked over to her students. "Really Gai, you need to learn to keep the emotions in check. Koji, you can come out now."

Koji joined the group in the middle of the field.

"Alright, I think we've done well for today, but I have one more exercise I want you to do before I give you the big announcement I've been holding onto." She said.

"Oh, come on. You've been keeping it from us all morning!" Gai whined.

"Grow up Fuzzy Eyebrows." Koji said.

"Don't tell me what to do No Eyes!" Gai snapped back.

"Please stop fighting." Riko whined.

Misaki simply shook her head. "Anyways…" She continued. "I want you each to go stand on those posts over there." She said, pointing to the three pieces of wood lined up along the side of the field. The students did as they were told. Misaki stood in front of them with her hands on her hips. "Good, now this morning I talked privately with each of you for a few minutes, but only one of you was told a secret message. Now, as a team I want you to figure out who I told it to, and what the message was."

Gai was about to open his mouth and quickly shut it when his teacher gestured him not to interrupt. "The rules are simple…you may not talk to one another…nor can you leave those posts. In fact, I don't want to hear any noises. I'm going to go sit behind that tree and if I hear any noise out of you, the game is over. I'm giving you five minutes to figure it out." She said.

"Five minutes? That's impossible!" Koji demanded.

"NO TALKING!" She said. "Oh, and you ALL better be able to give me the message, not just two of you. You're time starts…now."

The students looked at one another frantically, unsure what to do.

_How the hell are we supposed to communicate a message like this without talking?_ Riko thought.

_This is difficult. I can't even see Riko-chan from this angle. Koji is blocking my view. How am I supposed to know if she's trying to tell me anything? _Gai thought, scratching his chin.

_This time limit blows. _Koji thought.

Riko looked around nervously. She had to get her point across and fast. She looked over at Koji who made eye contact with her instantly.

_Here goes nothing. _She thought.

She quickly reached into her weapons pouch, pulled out a kunai and gently stuck it into the log between her feet. Koji's eyes lit up instantly.

_Riko has the message! _He realized. Koji gave her a nod indicating he understood.

Koji continued to watch the girl, hoping she would be able to give him the message quickly. He suddenly felt a tug on his shirt and turned to see Gai looking frantic. Koji made a few gestures indicating it was Riko and put up a finger indicating he needed a minute to get the message.

Gai misinterpreted this and thought the answer was one. He opened his mouth to shout it out by Koji, with lightning reflexes slammed his hand over the boy's mouth (just barely clinging onto his own post to do it) and mouthed the word 'wait'.

Gai nodded his head and waited patiently. Koji turned back to look at Riko who was trying to gesture out the answer. Koji tried to return the explanation, but it was only causing confusion.

_Dammit. This doesn't work if we don't use similar symbols…_ Riko thought. _Wait a minute, that's it!_

Riko reached down and pulled out the kunai in the log. They were running out of time, so she'd have to pass on the message to both at the same time if they were going to make it. She reached into her weapon's pouch and pulled out another kunai and some trip wire. She fastened the wire to each of the kunai and gently tossed them to Koji. The boy gave her a strange look, but then realized her plan. He tossed the second kunai to Gai who gave him an even more confused look.

Riko pulled the wires tight and began to tap on them in a rhythmic pulse.

_Morse code? Brilliant Riko-chan! _Gai thought.

The wires still produced a pulse that could be felt, yet it gave off no actual sound.

The two boys focused intently, feeling the beat vibrate through the kunai. Just as Riko finished giving the message, Misaki's timer buzzed wildly. Riko pulled back the kunai and quickly tucked them into her pouch before Misaki made it back to them.

"We'll, did you get the message?" Misaki asked, looking the students over. The three took in a deep breath.

"The sky is always blue even when it rains in Konoha." They replied.

Misaki looked stunned. "VERY impressive." She smiled. "You win!"

"Alright!" Gai cheered. "So NOW will you tell us the big news?"

Misaki gave a nod. "How about you get off those posts first?" She said.

The students hopped off and approached their teacher. Gai was almost bursting at the seams with curiosity.

"So? What is it? What is it?" Gai demanded.

"Calm down." Misaki chide him. "I'm sure you are all aware of the time of year yes?"

The three shared a quick and confused glance. "What do you mean sensei?" Riko asked.

"Why, the Chuunin exams are coming up!" She smiled.

Gai was now hopping around wildly. "We're going to the Chuunin exams! We're going to the Chuunin exams!" He cried as he ran around.

"Really sensei? You think we're ready?" Riko asked.

She gave them a smile. "As sure as I could ever be. I think you three will do great."

Koji smiled a little. He had been looking forward to finally getting into the Chuunin exams. "This should be interesting." He said.

"So, how about we all go celebrate your entry into the exams at the Ramen Shop? My treat." Misaki said.

"Thank you sensei…but shouldn't someone go catch Gai first?" Riko asked.

Misaki looked over and realized that Gai was still running around excitedly in the field.

"Oi! Gai-kun! Are you going to have lunch with your team or not?" She shouted.

The little boy finally realized how far he'd gotten from the group. "Yosh!" He cheered and ran after his team. "Let's kick some butt!"

END OF CHAPTER 10


	11. Chapter 11 The First Exam

A/N- Just a warning, there are a number of new characters listed in this chapter. Most of them are from the actual series including the Uchiha and Sand Ninjas (Minus Dokumi). If you want some background on them, look them up on Narutopedia. [**Warning, Google it, do not just type in , or you will be visually scarred x_x** ] -Lila

_Head or tails, heads or tails, heads or tails (heads or tails)  
Are you dumb enough to break the mold  
or smart enough to fail?  
Oh happy trails happy trails oh happy trails  
Can't beat a little bit of envy in your sails_

- It's a Disaster (OK GO)

The History of Konoha's Noble Green Beast

CHAPTER 11

"97….98….99…100!" Gai shouted to himself as he finished his morning workout. He gave a long stretch of his arms over his head, enjoying the burning sensation in his abdomen from doing the crunchies. Morning workouts were by far his favorite…there was something about the get up and go sensation that really helped to get him pumped. Babarusu watched Gai intently from his spot in the backyard pond.

"You really should stop there for this morning Gai. You have to be at the exams soon and you don't want to tire yourself out." The turtle warned him.

"I suppose you're right." Gai said.

Gai rolled free from the tree branch he had been hanging upside down from and preformed an elegant summersault before hitting the ground with a gentle thud. He walked over to his is favorite turtle companion and plopped down into a sitting position by the pond.

"Before I go today, I have a present for you." Gai smiled.

The turtle looked up at him with interest. "Oh, what is it?" He asked.

Gai reached into his one leg warmer and pulled out the long piece of material. "I had Misaki-sensei fashion this for you. Now that you've been living with me for so long, I thought it would be best for you to have your own Konoha forehead protector." He said, holding the piece of fabric with the glinting piece of metal out towards him.

"Wow, thank you Gai." Babarusu smiled at the thoughtful gift.

"No problem. Now if I need to summon you during the exams, you'll look even more like a ninja turtle." Gai said with a pump of his fists. "We'll be the most stylish ninjas in the exams this year!"

Babarusu gave a nervous laugh in response. "Oh yes…um, definitely." He replied, giving the green suit a once over.

_I still don't understand why he wears that thing._

Gai reached out with the material and attempted to wrap the band around the turtles shell.

"What on earth are you doing Gai?" Babarusu asked as he watched to boy awkwardly try to tie the fabric around him.

"Trying to get this thing around you…but it's too small! I think Misaki made it wrong." The boy frowned.

"Gai, there is no way that would fit around my shell. I've gotten a lot bigger over the last few years." The turtle pointed out. "Remember? I'm too big for you to throw anymore."

Sure enough, Babarusu had nearly quadrupled in size. His shell was getting close to being as high as Gai's knee. "I guess I just didn't notice, spending so much time with you." Gai shrugged.

"We'll don't put that gift to waste, here." Babarusu said stretching out his neck. "I can still wear it."

Gai fashioned the material around his neck and stood back to admire the work.

"So how does it look?" The turtle asked.

"Awesome!" Gai replied with a thumbs up. "You look ready for battle!"

Gai's attention was quickly drawn to his mother that was staring at him from the back door of their home.

"There you are!" she cried, giving him an exasperated look. "What on earth are you doing?"

Gai gave his mother a cheery smile. "Just getting warmed up for this morning, Mother." He replied.

"Well hurry up! You're teammates are waiting out front for you." She chastised and slipped back through the door.

He had been wondering how long it would be until his team would arrived. He'd half expected them to show up early to head for the academy, but had to keep reminding himself that their enthusiasm tended to be a little lower than his own on this sort of thing. Gai turned back to his turtle companion one last time. "Be sure to practice your techniques while I'm gone. We need to be ready for anything." He said.

"You're just harping on me because I haven't gotten Sonic Wave down yet aren't ya?" The turtle growled.

Gai laughed nervously. "No…no…nothing like that. I mean, you've learned lots of other cool techniques…it's just…"

"I'm a shame to my family." The turtle muttered. Babarusu had not yet mastered the sonic waves. He could knock over small objects but it still came out as this horrific screeching noise.

"No…no…don't get upset, your other techniques are totally awesome, really!" Gia tried to cheer him up.

"It's fine." The turtle pouted. "Get going, your teammates are waiting for you."

"Hai!"

Like a flash, he took off into the house, picking up his backpack in the hallway as he went. He had nearly reached the front door when he felt a rather large hand fall on his shoulder. Gai turned to see his father looking teary-eyed at him.

The older man wiped the pools from under his eyes. "My youthful son, today, you will make our family proud." The man said.

Gai's eyes welled up with tears as well. "Do not worry father! I will not let you down." He replied.

With that, his father wrapped Gai in a tight embrace. "I'm so proud of you!"

"Father!" He cried back.

"Will you hurry up?" came an annoyed male voice through the front door.

"Sorry. I will be right there!" Gai shouted back. He broke free from his father's vice grip hug and gave him one last thumbs up which was gladly returned by the older man.

Gai slid open the front door to find a very annoyed looking Koji and very tired looking Riko waiting on his doorstep.

"What took you so damn long?" Koji growled.

"I didn't take that long." Gai replied with a huff as he slipped his pack over his shoulder.

"Could have fooled me." Koji frowned back at him.

Before Gai could retort he felt an elegant set of fingers place themselves over his mouth as well as Koji's.

"How about we not start like this today, okay?" Riko asked calmly. "If were going to represent Sensei properly, being at each other's throats from the beginning isn't going to look very good now is it?"

The two boys stared at her silently.

Riko was about to pull her hands away when she felt Koji quickly grab her by the wrist and pull his head down into a bow. "I'm so sorry Riko, it will not happen again." He said.

Riko felt her face flushing madly at the sudden gesture and pulled away. "Don't…don't worry about it." She stuttered and took off ahead of the group to hide her blush.

Koji looked across and Gai and gave him an arrogant smirk.

Gai felt his blood boiling again. "You jerk, stop hitting on her!" He hissed softly under his breath so Riko would not hear.

Koji cocked his head to the side. "Or what?" He teased.

"You're just doing that to piss me off! Don't you already have enough girlfriends?" He snapped back.

Koji could not help but chuckle. It was so easy to get under Gai's skin and it just made it more fun to do so. "It's true, I have my pick of the girls, but even so, I'm not going to let some weirdo like you get Riko." He replied.

"Why?" Gai half whined.

"I dunno…I guess I'm just bored." He shrugged.

Gai balled his hands up into fists by his sides and stomped forward. He grabbed Koji by the scruff of his shirt and glared at him. "You are such a—"

"You two aren't fighting again are you?" Riko asked from further a head. Gai instantly let go of Koji's shirt and turned his attention to the girl.

"Riko-chan, who do you like more? Koji or Me?" Gai demanded. He'd settle this once and for all.

The look of horror quickly sprawled over the blonde haired ninja's face. "I uh….what?" She replied.

"Who do you like better?" Gai demanded again. "You must like one of us better!"

Riko scratched her head nervously. "We'll you see, you're both my teammates and I…uh…"

_Oh, God save me._

Riko looked around frantically. "Oh, look at the time! We're going to be late! Come on you two let's hurry!"

The two boys watched Riko run ahead on her own.

"She's just avoiding the topic" Gai frowned. "There isn't even a clock around here."

Koji responded with a short laugh. "Just face it Fuzzy Eyebrows, you'll never beat me. Not is taijutsu, genjutsu, popularity…or with girls." The young boy walked ahead leaving the boy that was now vibrating with anger behind him. "I'm someone you just can't beat, so accept your place!"

Misaki was waiting alone in the hallway of the academy for her students to arrive. As confident as she was that her team would be successful, she could not help but feel a little nervous. This was the first team she had ever enlisted in the Chuunin exams…no…this was the first team she had ever been put in charge of. As strong as they were, she could not ignore the churning in her gut that was making her worry. Misaki took in a deep breath and pressed her head against the wall, shutting her eyes tight trying to push the negative thoughts out of her mind. It wasn't that many years ago she'd been in the Chuunin exams herself and she knew just how brutal they could be.

_However, this is my team…they are strong…there is nothing to worry about._

Misaki was brought from her thoughts by the sound of happy yelling.

"Sensei!" Gai shouted as they approached her in the hall. She gave them a cheerful smile.

"Good morning you three. I'm glad you all made it." She said.

"Of course Sensei, we wouldn't miss this for the world, right team?" Gai said looking back at his teammates. Koji smirked at him and rolled his eyes while Riko gave a small smile in response.

"We'll I'm glad to see you're excited. Today is certainly a big day for the three of you." She replied. "I just hope you have remembered all the training that I've given you. Work hard and I'm sure you will do just fine."

"Thank you Sensei!" They replied.

Misaki remained silent for a few moments, trying to drag out the time before letting them pass her into the next room. The moment they walked in there, there was no changing it. They would be on their own and she would have to trust that they would be alright.

"Sensei? Are you okay?" Riko asked.

Misaki gave her a nervous laugh in response. "I'm fine. Really. Just…good luck you three." She said. She stepped aside and let them pass through the doors. Part of her mind screamed at her to grab them by the scruff of their shirts and drag them out of the academy, but what kind of teacher would she be if she gave into those thoughts?

_They will never grow if I keep coddling them._

The students walked passed her, trying to appear as confident as possible. Deep down inside, they were just as nervous as Misaki though.

They looked around the room in awe.

"There are so many students!" Riko whispered to her team.

The boys nodded in response.

The small classroom was littered with Genin teams from all the villages. A large number of them were from Konoha, but it was clear to see there were also a number of foreign visitors. It was hard to pick them all out, but the three students recognized a couple of the head protectors: Moon, Cloud, Rain, Grass, Waterfall…and Sand.

"There are Sand ninjas here?" Riko whispered.

Koji nodded, also looking concerned. "I'm just as surprise as you are." He murmured.

Gai looked at his teammates with confusion. "What's the problem?" He asked.

Koji shook his head. "Of course, Fuzzy Eyebrows wouldn't keep up on the political problems of our world." He half sighed.

"Just shut up and tell me." Gai replied with a frown.

Riko interjected quickly. "During the second great shinobi war, there were a number of shinobi villages that were involved in the fighting. Most of the fighting involved the Grass, Rock, Rain, Leaf and the Sand. We were fortunate enough to have a treaty with the Grass and Rain at the time. That allowed us to keep the Sand and Rock ninjas at bay. Since then, the villages have managed to come to an agreement, and for the most part, there is peace. However, the story goes that Lady Tsunade of the renowned Three Sannin killed a number of ninjas that were important to some of the higher ranked members of the sand village along with saving a number of our own ninjas that would have perished otherwise and so the bitterness is still there."

"So then, why are they here if they still hate us?" Gai asked.

"Part of the reason they do the Chuunin exams together like this is to try and promote a sort of peace, but to be honest, the tension is so thick in this room right now, it feels like another war could break out any second." Koji commented.

Riko continued. "The Sand and Leaf are trying to make amends, so that is why you see them here now. As for the Rock, they still hold some strong negative feelings towards us and that's why you don't see any of them here." She explained.

"I see…these exams can get pretty dangerous then." Gai commented.

"Events like these can be the very cause of wars." Koji added.

Gai looked over at the team of sand ninjas. There didn't seem to be anything particularly special about them. It was a normal team like theirs: two boys and one girl.

The girl's hair was tied in a high ponytail on the top of her head that spilled out into a long braid ending at her lower back. It had a distinct blue tinge to it and her pale skin made the contrast even more severe. The one boy actually had an almost soft and friendly demeanor about him. His eyes were gentle and his shaggy blonde hair only softened his appearance. The last boy looked rather angry. His one eye was obscured by dark black hair that hung over his face. His visible eye was narrow and he looked ready to rip a hole in the first person that dared to speak with him.

"Has anyone tried to go over and talk to them?" Gai asked.

"Who would want to?" Asuma said, as he approached from behind them. "We know all we need to. They're sand ninjas and no one wants them here."

"Asuma-kun." Koji replied in surprise. "I didn't realize you were enrolled in the exams this time."

Asuma gave him a shrug and a smile. "Had to do it eventually, mind you I would have rather done it a year when those Sand Ninjas weren't around. They've caused enough trouble for this village." He pointed at the girl. "That one's name is Dokumi, the blonde guy is Yashamaru and the angry looking one is Yura."

"How do you know that?" Gai asked.

Asuma shrugged. "I got bored the other day and noticed a stack of ninja profiles on my dad's desk. I started looking through them." He said. He leaned in a bit closer to share the next part. "Take my advice, from what I could understand in the files, it's just better if you stay away from those three. They won't hesitate to kill leaf ninjas and they have some pretty powerful skills."

The aura of worry that fell over the group was palatable, but fortunately, was broken by the sound of a cheerful female voice approaching.

"Oi! Riko-chan!" Cried out the happy girl. Riko turned to see Rin running up excitedly to her.

"Rin-chan! You were registered as well?" Riko asked excitedly.

Rin gave her a nod. "We almost didn't get in, because we didn't have a full team, but we were lucky to pick someone up last minute." She smiled.

"That's right. Kakashi is already a Chuunin so he can't be on your team." Riko said, a slight sadness in her voice.

_And I was kind of hoping to see him too._

Rin gave a shy smile. "It's okay. Our new teammate is very strong and we work quite well together." She explained.

"Who is it?" Riko asked.

Rin turned and pointed in the direction of a young boy standing over the in the corner talking with Obito. He looked about their age. His hair was dark black and hung frame-like around his face. If his dark coal colored eyes did not give away his heritage, the marker on his back certainly did.

"Another Uchiha? You are in the exams with two Uchihas?" Riko said stunned.

Rin gave a shy nod. "Yes, his name is Uchiha Tekka. He's a cousin of Obito's." She explained.

"I don't get it…what's the big deal? He's just related to Obito." Gai shrugged.

"Do you know anything at all you moron? Obito is about as friendly as they get in the Uchiha clan." Koji hissed.

"That's not true…Tekka-san is a very nice person." Rin tried to defend him.

Koji gave a sigh. "I understand you're attempting to defend him, but you know as well as everyone else the arrogance of that clan."

Riko looked down at her feet nervously and Koji turned his attention to Gai.

"You need to understand that there are levels, and divisions…even in this village." Koji explained calmly. "Some clans are revered for their power and with that power comes a certain level of respect. The Uchiha clan's…the Uchiha clan likely even out ranks my own family." Koji sighed, scratching at his head in frustration. "And they are pretty aware of their status as well."

"Shhhh. They're coming over." Riko hissed, keeping her head down.

The young Uchiha's approached quietly. The look of placid calm on Tekka's face kind of creeped Gai out. It the a sort of serene look you'd expect from an angelic figure, yet the powerful energy rolling off of him was a total contrast to his face.

"He…hello Tekka-san." Rin stuttered nervously.

The young boy looked over at her with a mild smile. On any other face it would have look insincere, yet the smile suited him for some strange reason.

"Hello Rin-san." The boy replied politely.

"This is another team of Konoha ninja's that will be in the exams today." Rin explained. "This is Koji-san, Riko-san and Gai-san."

"Why so formal Rin-chan!" Gai laughed, giving the girl a pat on the back. He stuck out his hand. "Hello Tekka-chan, I am Maito Gai. It's nice to meet you!"

The others stood in silent awe at the social taboo.

_So Ignorant_

_So Brash_

_Moron_

Tekka stared at his hand silently and then finally stuck out his own. "Nice to meet you as well. You are very different aren't you?" He said, looking the boy up and down.

Gai replied with a smile, not fully understanding the meaning of Tekka's words. Riko, terrified of what was happening quickly grabbed Gai by the shoulders and ushered him away.

"Thank you for speaking with us, but we should really get prepared. Bye now!" She said in a lyrical voice as she shoved Gai along.

Koji followed quickly behind the pair. Gai gave them a puzzled look. "What's the big deal? Ow!" He said as Koji swatted him up the backside of his head.

"You really are an idiot." Koji sighed.

"You can't just talk to an Uchiha like that!" Riko chastised.

"Why not?" Gai pouted in confusion. "He's just a kid."

"He's not just a kid. Gai, you need to understand that they are clans that you just don't want to mess with." Riko tried to explain.

"Unless you want to end up dead." Koji added.

"But wait a second…I see you hanging out with Obito all the time!" Gai pointed an accusing finger at Koji.

Koji shook his head. "Your pea brain wouldn't understand…but Obito is different. Just, for the sake of your team do not talk to that boy anymore. You're liable to make idiots out of all of us."

Gai crossed his arms over his chest and frowned. "I still don't see what the big deal is." He muttered. At this rate, he'd never understand the kids in this village.

The room's noisy bustle began to die down as that sound as a loud whistle rang through the air. The collection of students hushed and stared up at the front room as a tall, rough looking man leaned over a podium at the front with a tired and unamused look on his face.

"Such noisy, troublesome students." He muttered. "Everyone come to the front and take a token. This is your assigned seat. We will start once everyone is settled."

The students quickly filed into the desks according to the tokens effectively splitting up all the teams. Once everyone was settled in, the man stood upright and approached the front line of desks.

"Hello everyone. My name is Nara Shikaku; I am the first round examiner. Today, you are under my rules. Breaking any rules I dictate will result in immediate removal from the exams, understood?"

"Man, this guy is kinda scary…look at those scars on his face." Gai whispered to Asuma who was sitting next to him.

"Did you say something?" The tired man at the front asked, turning in Gai's direction.

"No, nothing." He said with a cheery smile.

"Good, now onto the test for today. My assistants will be handing out the examination papers. You are not to turn them over until I instruct you to do so. You will be given 40 minute to complete to nine questions listed. That should be more than enough time. There will be a tenth question at the end of the 40 minutes, which I will give you orally." Shikaku directed the students' attention to the men and women lining the walls. "These people here will be keeping an eye on you to make sure you are not cheating. Anyone caught cheating will have marks deducted from their test. Get caught too many times and you will be removed from the exam room as will their entire team. You will all fail and have to try again next year. Any questions?"

The room of students remained silent.

"Good. You may begin." He said. The man then went over to the corner and slumped down in to chair. His body posture only said one thing…I don't want to be here.

Gai flipped over the piece of paper and examined the questions.

_Okay, it's just like the tests at school. Too bad I didn't know about this before or I would have studied._

He read over the first question and frowned.

_I have no idea what the answer is to this._

He looked over the next question.

_Sweet mother of Hokage these are hard!_

He continued to read the questions, getting progressively more frustrated with each passing second. He couldn't answer any of them! This wasn't good at all.

Meanwhile, in their respective seats, Koji and Riko weren't having much luck either.

_This is ridiculous. No Genin would know the answer to this! _Riko thought.

_Why were we not properly prepared for this? _Koji wondered.

The three ninjas were panicking, yet did their best to stay calm. They briefly scanned the room and realized that the other ninjas were furiously writing away.

Riko scratched her head. _This makes no sense. None of the questions on here are at a Genin level and yet people are writing away like mad. What are we missing?_

She scanned the room again and noticed out of the corner of her eye that the boy to her right was in fact cheating.

_I guess he must be desperate…no…wait…_

Riko's mind drifted back to the test Misaki had given them the other day. It had seemed a little odd and tacked on to their normal workout. The test had been to communicate a message without getting caught. There had been no explanation for it, they had just done it. Yet now it made perfect sense. They were **supposed** to cheat! Riko spied Koji out of the corner of her eye, the look on his face indicating he'd figured it out as well. He was using is Byakugan as subtly as he good and clearly picking up the answers in front of him. It made Riko a little envious she didn't have that kind of ability.

Lucky for her, she did have one ability she could use to her advantage. As carefully as she could she pulled out a thin trip wire and spun it on her fingers. She had to figure out a way to get it to Koji without being detected. She gingerly tied small pebbles to the ends of a pair of wires, giving them some weight.

"You!" shouted one of the examiners.

Riko felt her blood run cold as the man pointed in her direction. She froze in mid tie only turning her head to look at the examiner.

"No not you, the one next to you. That's three cheats, you're out. Take you're team with you." The man ordered.

The young boy that she had noticed cheating earlier from the rain village stood up with his head hung and proceeded to leave with the rest of his team in tow. Riko sighed with relief.

_Too close._

She looked down at Gai who still looked frustrated.

_Come on Gai…Cheat! _Riko thought to herself, as if by some miracle she would develop telepathy.

She then peered over at Koji again, trying to make it look like she was still writing away. How was she supposed to get the string to him? Just then, another two examiners cried out, drawing the attention of people in the room.

_Now's my chance. _She thought. In two swift moves, she pulled a thin blow tube out of her pocket and slipped the end of the weighted wire inside. Discretely as possible, she blew in the direction of Koji, reloaded and blew in the direction of Gai. Both shots were successful and she managed to hit them in the neck. The boys flinched at the pricking sensation of the wire tip hitting them. Koji casually pulled the wire under the table out of sight, aware of what Riko had done. Gai also hid the wire, but was a tad concerned Riko might get caught for her actions. None of the examiners called out, indicating either she had gotten away with it, or still had some points let. Then pulsing message could finally be felt in his hand.

_Cheat_ was the only word she passed on.

Trying to act as relaxed as possible, Gai kept the wire pulled tight in his hand, trying to avoid rubbing it on any other students that were between him and Riko. He waited patiently and after a few more minutes, a second message came through, giving him the answers to the first two questions.

Their system was perfect, Koji collected the data using his eye technique and Riko passed along the message. Any time another group of students was forced to leave they dropped the wire slack to prevent the students from tripping or uncovering them and then went back to passing the message again once they left. Within the 40 minutes, they managed to finish the questions just as Shikaku stepped back up to the front.

"Alright, pencils down." The man ordered. "Time for the last question."

The student placed down their pencils and stared at the man in front of them.

"Before I ask this question, I will give you a chance to leave. Those that leave will be given the chance to take the test again next year, those that stay, must answer the question. Failure to answer correctly from any of teammate will result in a fail of your entire team, and you will not be allowed to take this test again for at least another 5 years." He said.

"Five Years? That's ridiculous!" Cried out one of the students.

"Those are the rules. So decide. Will you take the question or not?" Shikaku asked.

After a few moments, one of the students finally stood up. "I would like to resign for this year." The student said.

Kurenai looked over in shock. "Jin-kun." She said.

Aburame Jin looked over at her with sad eyes. "I'm sorry Kurenai, I didn't want to drag you down with me, but I just don't feel prepared to take this question. We can try in half a year when the exams come back." He said.

Kurenai looked on the verge of crying, but stood up with her head down. "I…I understand." She said and followed her teammates out. Her friends watched in utter shock as she left the room.

"I can't believe Kurenai is out." Rin half whispered to Riko, who was sitting in front of her. Riko did not turn around but gave a silent nod. The worry was starting to tug at her gut and looking forward was the only thing stopping her from standing up herself.

Some of the other students filed out as well, too afraid to take on the question. Gai, Riko and Koji stilled remained with the other teams in the classroom.

"So many still here, I'm going to have to be harder on you students next year." Shikaku sighed.

"Very well, here is the question; I want you to list three things that represent your team. They can be anything, objects, words, pictures…but only three. I will pass you if all of your teammates have at least list one thing the same. The other questions are not going to be considered. All this comes down to whether or not you and your team know each other."

"If it all just came down to one stupid question, what was the point of the other stuff?" A frustrated student asked.

"To test your stealth, but now we will test your understanding of one another. So hurry up and write it down, you have 10 minutes." He replied.

The student stared at their sheets with confusion. What were they supposed to write…

_Konoha? No, that's too obvious, what about the number 3…no…We all like Ramen don't we? This is so hard!_ Gai whined to himself.

That's when he felt it…the gentle tugging of the wire. He had been so wrapped up in thought; he'd forgotten it was in his hand. He listened to the message pulsing in his hand; Riko was trying to unify their answers.

_Let's put down our first-_

Snap

Gai turned his head slightly in horror and realized that the angry sand ninja he'd noticed earlier had pulled out a kunai and severed the wire linking him to Riko. The grin on his face was almost as sickening as the one Koji always gave him.

He looked back at his paper.

_First what? First what?_ He thought frantically. He took a deep breath and looked down at his paper with determination. _The first of something that has three answers that represents our team… _

"2 minutes!" The man at the front shouted. Gai felt his heart pounding in his chest. 5 years…5 more years before he would be able to take the test again. He would be 16 by then! No…he couldn't lose now…there was no way. He wrote down the only thing he could think of.

"Times up! Group together with your team and come to the front now, but do not look at your papers." He ordered. The students did as they were asked.

Gai felt his heart pounding as he watched the teacher work his way down the line. The man simply collected the papers, looked them over, stared back at the group and moved on to the next one. He didn't say a word to anyone. The man finally stood before Gai and his team. Gai swallowed back his nerves and they all handed in their papers. Being the last group in line had been absolute torture.

The many looked over the sheets with a frown. "Well I'll be damned." He said.

The students looked at him curiously.

"You actually managed to all write the same three things. You must have cheated." He commented.

"But…b..but we didn't cheat!" Gai demanded. He pointed roughly at the dark haired sand ninja down the line. "That boy destroyed our method of cheating before we could-" Riko cut him off with her hand laughing nervously.

The older man chuckled back at them. "I'm not going to condemn you for cheating. That was all part of the exercise. You cheated well enough not to be caught and that was the first part of this test. However, if what you say is true, that makes this even more impressive. I've never seen a team successfully right down the same three answers all together. Frankly, your answer makes absolute sense and is the best answer possible. I've just never seen it before."

Gai peered over the paper and sure enough, they all wrote the same answers:

_Koji_

_Riko_

_Gai_

was scrawled on each of their papers.

"I've only done this test a few times, and I have to say, those are the smartest answers I've ever gotten back. Congratulations, you pass." He said.

The three smiled happily at the man, holding back shouting for fear that he might change his mind.

The brief smile on the man's face quickly returned to a frown. "Don't think you passed because of your answers to this question. You passed the moment you decided to stay for the last question."

The students in the line all gaped at the man.

"But…but why did you make us do this finally test than?" Obito jumped in, a little confused.

The man smiled and gave a shrug. "I was just curious what you would write, that and it's always fun to let you little rookies sweat it out a little bit."

"That was mean!" The group shouted back at him.

"Oh, stop whining and just be happy you passed." He shot back.

Before anything else could be said, the doors to the examination room flew open with a violent swing. The students looked at the back of the room as a confident looking ninja swaggered up to the front of the examination room.

"Hello everyone. I hope Skikaku-kun took good care of you." The woman said. She glanced casually around the room counting the number of students.

"18 teams? Not too bad Shikaku-kun, you must have given them a good scare." She teased.

"I just did my job. I'm glad I can finally go home now." The man sighed, walking passed her and heading out the door.

The woman turned her attention back to the class, hopping up on one of the desks and using it as a seat. "Hello everyone! My name is Uzumaki Kushina. I am the second round examiner. Be prepared, the next test is much worse than this one was. In fact, it might even kill you." She smiled wickedly.

Many of the student's eyes widened with fear. Rin leaned over to Riko and whispered. "Minato-sensei's girlfriend can be scary." She said.

END OF CHAPTER 11

Of course Naruto's mom would have run the second round of exams…she's just so perfect for it. Now it is time to see how the teams duke it out. Reviews always welcome!


	12. Chapter 12 The Forest of Death

AN- Hey hey. Would have had this out sooner had fanfiction not decided to die for several days. Come back in a few minutes my **!

I believe in the underdog  
I stood in the rain  
I believe in the lost cause  
I believe in getting through the pain

--Underdog by the Mudmen

The History of Konoha's Noble Green Beast

CHAPTER 12

The Genin students huddled in their respective teams near the fences surrounding the Forest of Death. They were cautiously watching the red-haired Jonin that was pacing near the administration tables. Only an hour ago, she had barged into their examination classroom informing them she had come to take them to their deaths and then proceeded to laugh about it. The students could not figure out if she was insane or just got a thrill out of scaring children. No one was interested in finding out the answer to that question, so they kept the distance between themselves and her as wide as possible. Once she appeared satisfied that everything was in place, she turned to address the students.

"Alright, we can now start the second examination but before I explain the rules, you'll need to fill out these liability forms for me." Kushina said, pointing to the pile of clipboards on the desk next to her.

"What are those for?" One student piped up.

The woman's smile quickly turned into a sinister grin reminiscent of the one she had given them in the classroom. "So your family can't sue us if you die. Just a formality thing really." She said, waving her hand as if it was nothing.

This caused a nervous stir within the group of young ninjas giving Kushina a small burst of satisfaction that she had them on their toes. "We'll come on. Either fill out the form or get out of here, it's your choice." She said, acting as if she was annoyed with their lack of courage.

The students gradually approached the desk, filling out the necessary forms with their teammates and then collecting a small-unmarked canister with their team information on the outside.

"Each team should now have a canister. In each one, you will find either a heaven scroll or an earth scroll. Do not read them or you will be disqualified. The game is simple," Kushina said, hopping up on the administration desk so everyone could see her. "You need to get both a heaven scroll and an earth scroll and bring them to the tower at the center of the Forest of Death. You have 3 days to complete this. Teams unable to bring a scroll to the tower are eliminated. Your team will have to rely on both your survival and combat skills. You have also been assigned a gate number on the scroll. That is your starting point. You are to be at your gate in half an hour. That is when they will open. From there on in, it's do what you have to in order to get the scrolls. Are we clear?"

"Now I get why this challenge is so much more intense." Riko whispered. "Only half of us can make it at best."

"We'll just have to make sure we're on the winning half." Koji replied.

Riko leaned over to Gai who was holding their canister. "Let's head to the gate and take a look at which scroll we got over there where no one can see." She suggested. Gai gave her a silent nod and clutched the package tighter to him, ensuring its safety. The students headed towards their designated gate like everyone else. Once they were sure the coast was clear, Gai peered into the canister and eyed up which scroll they had gotten. "It's an earth scroll." He whispered.

"It won't help us much knowing that, because anyone we come across could have either. It's not like they're going to fan their scroll around openly. We're just going to have to take on whoever we find and hope we get the right scroll." Koji commented.

"Right." The other two replied.

________

Kushina had taken to lounging on top of the administrative table; oblivious to the harsh glares the commissioner at the desk was giving her. Sarutobi was standing off to the side with a number of other authority figures including council members Homura and Koharu and the Chief of Police Fugaku. Fugaku looked mildly irritated but hadn't said much since he had arrived. Realizing that the Uchiha was unlikely to address what ever was bothering him, Sarutobi finally spoke up.

"Is something bothering you, Fugaku-san?" Sarutobi asked.

Fugaku gave him a side-glance and then continued to stare at the woman sitting casually on the administration table, now arguing with the examination commissioner about the 'purpose' of the table she was occupying. "Is Uzumaki-san not already one of the Chuunin exam organizers?" He asked.

Sarutobi gave a nod. "Yes. One of the best we have ever had. I'd say the exams have been running quite smoothly since she took over." He replied.

"Then why is she also proctoring the second exam? Was there no other suitable candidate?" He asked.

Sarutobi gave a chuckle. "If you are worried that the students from your clan are in poor hands I assure you they are not. Kushina-san was chosen for this task because she is in all actuality, the only one suited to do it." Sarutobi explained.

"How so?" Fugaku continued to question.

Now even Homura and Koharu were chuckling. "I guess you haven't seen this young woman in action yet have you?" Homura asked the Chief of Police.

Fugaku frowned in response and turned his attention back to Kushina, who was now sliding off the table and starting to bark orders into the air.

"ANBU!" She shouted. Within a matter of seconds, eight ANBU appeared in front of her. She smiled in satisfaction. "Perfect, are the wireless communicators up and running?" She asked.

An ANBU with long jet-black hair gave her a curt nod. "We've set the frequency to 7, here is yours." He replied, handing her the communicator.

"Excellent." She replied, taking the small device into her hand and setting it on the table next to her. "You all know your assigned regions?" She questioned.

The all the ANBU replied with nod.

"Even better. Remember, keep to those areas. You may scout within that region, but you are not to leave that area unless you hear a command and pass code from me indicating you are to move. Understood?"

The team of masked ninjas nodded to her again.

She burst out into a big smile. "Alright team! Let's do this!" She shouted cheerfully, raising her first into the air.

The ANBU quickly scattered into the forest, preparing for the gates to open.

Fugaku looked back at the Hokage furiously. "Just eight? That is all you could afford for this exam? Hokage-sama, I do not wish to be rude, but that is hardly enough to ensure the security of all the examinees." He demanded.

Sarutobi smiled again in response. "Do not worry Fugaku-san, there will be plenty of eyes in the forest."

Fugaku looked back to the red-haired woman still standing alone by the administration desk. "Alright, guess it's time to get things on the road!" She said, giving a quick crack of her knuckles and her neck. She formed the necessary hand seals for her best jutsu. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu! (_Shadow Clone Jutsu_)"

Suddenly, the entire area in front of the forest filled with a heavy smoke cloud. Once it cleared, Fugaku was left stunned by the number of doppelgangers in front of him.

"She…she can make that many Shadow Clones and not break a sweat?" He asked Sarutobi.

"Yes…it's her specialty, and it's ideal for this exam." He replied.

The original Kushina walked over to the table and picked up the communicator. She fastened it to her ear and looked back at her clones. "Alright ladies. Two to a Genin team and another two by the central tower. If anything happens, one releases the jutsu so I can relay the message to the proper ANBU and the other do what you can to help the situation."

"Yosh!" The team of Kushina's replied in unison.

"Alright! Let's do this!" Kushina shouted back to her team. With that, the red haired army took off into the forest, preparing to track the young teams of ninjas.

Sarutobi turned back to the Chief of Police, who now looked a little more at ease.

"I assure you." Sarutobi said. "With the area Kushina can cover, nothing will get out of hand in that forest. She'll be our silent security system."

________________

Back at Gate number 7, Gai was pacing like a mad dog, looking up on occasion as he waited for the events to start.

"What's taking so long?" He moaned.

"Just relax Gai; you're going to get yourself all worked up before we even start." Riko chide at him.

He turned to her and continued to complain. "But…but what if there was a mistake? What if we've been forgotten at this gate? What if we're at the wrong gate and they think we chickened out and now we're not even in the exams anymore and…OW!" He said, his spiral of negative thoughts quickly coming to a halt as something hard hit him in the back of the head. He looked over to see Koji tapping the Earth Scroll in his palm and looking annoyed.

"Stop fretting like an old woman and chill out!" Koji snapped.

"Don't tell me what to—" Gai started to reply but was cut off by the sound of the old gate creaking open. The team looked over at the now open entrance to the rather unwelcoming forest.

"Well…here goes nothing." Riko said.

The team cautiously moved forward, surveying the land as they went along.

"So…what's our plan of attack?" Gai asked.

"We need to find another team as quickly as possible and take their scroll. The longer we take the less likely there will be any heaven scrolls to take." Koji suggested.

"But if we just run in without thinking, we could end up losing our own scroll." Riko pointed out.

"So what's the best option?" Koji asked.

"A combination of both. We move ahead quickly and set up some traps at what looks like a logical crossing point. Wait it out a while and if no one comes, move on and try again." Riko suggested.

"Sounds like a plan. Let's move!" Gai said, taking a sprinting lead.

_____________

The team continued into the depths of the forest, finally reaching a small clearing that looked ideal for camping out near.

"Alright Koji, tell us what you see." Riko said to the young Hyuuga.

Koji activated his eyes and surveyed the area. "No one within a few kilometers right now. We're safe to set up." He said.

"Perfect." Riko said, reaching into her pack and pulling out some trip wires. "You keep your eyes peeled." Koji gave a nod. She then turned to her green suited companion. "Mind helping me set these up?" She asked. Gai gave her a toothy smile and a thumbs up in response. The two took off into the trees and quickly got to work.

They were only at work for a short while before Koji shouted up at them. "Team approaching at 4 o'clock. Cover!" He ordered up into the canopy.

Gai and Riko quickly stopped what they were doing and dashed for cover as Koji did the same. The three ninja dropped their chakra levels as low as they could to blend in with their surroundings. After a few aggravating minutes of silence, the ninjas finally appeared. The three Konoha ninjas held their breath, recognizing the sand ninja head bands wrapped around the enemy's foreheads.

The group of sand ninjas looked tired and irritated. The blue haired woman gave a moan. "This is so freaking boring. We've been in this forest for a few hours already and haven't seen a damn soul." She muttered.

"Minus that little tree rat thing Yura killed with a kunai." The shaggy blonde teased the other boy in their group.

"I heard a noise and I reacted." Yura snapped back.

The blonde gave him a shrug and turned his attention back to the irritated woman. "Just be patient Dokumi-chan. We'll find someone soon enough." He said, giving her a reassuring pat on the back. The girl still looked annoyed, giving a stretch over her head and flexing her wrists.

"I was really hoping we would have killed off one of those leaf ninja teams by now." Dokumi pouted.

"It would be a shame if none of them saw an unfortunate accident before the next round." Yura chimed in.

"Don't worry; it's the exams…accidents always happen." The blonde-haired boy added with enthusiasm.

"Oh, Yashamaru-kun…always such an optimist." Dokumi teased.

"We'll it would certainly be an accident if we let the little spies in the trees survive now wouldn't it?" Yura piped in.

Gai, Koji and Riko felt their blood run cold. Apparently, their cover had not been good enough to fool the sand ninjas.

"If you think dropping your chakra levels is going to be enough to hide from us, you've got another thing coming." Dokumi called up towards the leafy canopies.

After a few more minutes of silence, she became irritated. "Very well…I'll have to just FLUSH you out!" She shouted. She reached along her sides and pulled what appeared to be two steel sticks from her hips. With a flick of her wrists, the sticks unfolded into a pair of elegant looking purple steel fans. They glinted in the limited light of the forest, clearly well sharpened and had what almost looked like small spikes fringing the edges. With a powerful swipe of her wrists, she let loose a brutal wind attack into the trees. The leaves above quickly shred into many little pieces.

Gai, Koji and Riko landed gracefully on the ground in the opening with the sand ninja, lucky to have avoided the attack. They braced themselves for what was coming next.

Dokumi let out a chuckle and closed the fan blades, returning them to her sides. "Glad you decided to join us. Parties are so much better with more people." She cooed.

"We won't waste that much time with you." Koji replied, trying his best to be intimidating.

Dokumi smiled at him. "Oooo, the Konoha dog has fangs. I like it when their feisty. I call the one with the pale eyes!" She shouted.

Her teammates nodded in agreement. "Be my guest." Yura replied.

Dokumi charged forward quickly, revealing a set a senbon laced between her fingers now. Koji readied himself for the attack, but was surprised when Riko stepped in front of him. "Let me take care of this ugly little sand pig for you Koji." Riko offered.

"Sand pig!?" The girl replied in absolute rage.

Riko drew out a pair of short hand blades from her belt and prepared for the attack. Before the girls could meet though, Riko felt a hard tug on her waist. She looked down and realized a large steel chain had been wrapped around her torso. She followed the chain with her eyes and stared in horror at the angry dark eyed ninja on the end.

"Let our lady fight with the ninja she wants." Yura said, giving the chain a hard tug. Riko felt herself go flying off to the side. She was tossed hard into the base of a tree, which gave a off a loud crack upon contact.

"Riko!" Gai cried, running in the direction of his injured teammate. Yashamaru quickly cut off the distance by running in front of him.

"Let's play, shall we?" He asked in a mocking tone.

Koji, now standing off against the female sand ninja alone, dodged out of the way, as her senbon nearly struck him in the shoulder. He disarmed her one wrist, causing her to drop a few. She took another swing with her free hand but he ducked in time, landing a hard hit into her gut that caused her to drop to her knees. She looked up from her bent position and spied the scroll popping out of the young boy's hip pouch. "Oh goody, looks like you have what I'm looking for." She cooed.

Koji looked down in horror and realized his mistake in not taking better care of the scroll. "It's okay for you to know we have the heaven scroll." She said. "We're just going to take yours anyways."

He took the opportunity to dash off into the trees to reassess his situation.

"You won't escape me!" The girl cried, quickly following on his tail.

_____________

Gai lunged out of the way, as the blonde haired ninja threw several kunai at him. Every time Gai attempted to get close enough to land a hit, the boy would throw another barrage of weapons at him, causing him to have to run out of the way again. Close-range was his strong point, but with Yashamaru keeping him at a distance, that was not going to work. Gai quickly reached into his leg warmer and pulled out a few shuriken. He wasn't the best shot, but working with Riko had made him better. He took aim in mid run, tossing the shuriken hard at the boy's chest. Yashamaru dodged the attack and returned the favor with several more kunai.

"Nice, try but you'll need to do better than that." The boy laughed.

___________________

Riko shook her head, trying to remove the daze in her brain from hitting the tree. She could still feel the chain tightly wrapped around her waist. She stood up, and attempted to locate the boy still holding the other end. Once, spotted, she drew a few weapons from her pouch and prepared to attack.

"I can't let you do that now can I?" The ninja teased, giving the chain another tug and sending Riko flying back in the other direction. She landed hard on the ground, coughing as the chain squeezed the air out of her. She rolled over and looked at her captor.

"Don't think some petty chain is going to hold me!" She shouted. She grabbed the chain at arms length pulling it tight. She wrapped her feet around the chain and gave a hard tug, causing the boy to trip forward. This gave enough slack that she could shimmy out of her prison. From there, she pulled a number of shuriken out of her belt and threw them at the boy. "I'm going to grate you into pieces even finer than sand!" She yelled at him.

The boy, fully aware that her tactic had been to surround him, used a sand replacement technique just in time as the shurikens slashed through the grains of dirt.

"Dammit!" Riko cursed to herself. She turned around in her frustration and noticed the pile of senbon on the ground beside her. They were the ones the female sand ninja had dropped earlier but there was something odd about them. The color of the steel was unusually dark. She carefully reached down and examined the weapons. Her eyes got big when she realized what was wrong with them.

"Koji!" She shouted in the direction of her teammate. "Get away from that girl! Her senbon are tipped with poison!"

Koji heard his teammate's cries, and took a brief look at the senbon in his enemy's hand. Aware that any hit was liable to be lethal, he took the opportunity to step back.

Dokumi pouted. "Damn! I was hoping you wouldn't notice before I pierced that pretty pale skin of yours." She said. Koji was already having a hard enough time dodging her attacks and keeping his waistline safe from the girl's grabby hands as she kept trying to take the scroll from him.

Koji took off toward the center of the clearing, only stopping for a moment by Riko. He reached into his pocket and quickly passed off the scroll. "Here." He said as he continued to run from Dokumi. "You're better with escape tactics, so keep it safe." He ordered. The girl nodded and dashed off in the other direction.

Gai panted hard as he dodged another barrage of weapons directed at him. This was getting really annoying. It felt more like target practice than a fight to him. Gai tucked and rolled as another set of kunai grazed past his head. He pressed down hard on his heel and changed directions, preparing for another attack. When he realized the weapons were not coming this time, he eyed his attacker and realized he was out of weapons.

_Now's my chance! _Gai thought.

Gai spun on his heel hard and turned in the direction of the ninja. He bolted as fast as he could towards him, preparing to knock him out in one kick. Yashamaru looked terrified, right up until the point where Gai was about the reach him. "Gotcha!" The boy sang lyrically, his face changing from an expression of horror to amusement.

Suddenly, Gai could hear the sound of clinking and clanking around him. To his surprise, the weapons discarded on the ground began to move and dance on their own. Riko watched from her position hidden between some trees. Her teammate clearly did not know this technique and if she did not get him moving fast, he was dead.

"Gai, run for it! He's using chakra strings to pull back his weapons!" She cried.

Hearing the warning from his teammate, Gai quickly turned and headed for cover. He could feel the mass of steel coming hurtling back towards him. Gauging that there was not enough time to escape, he quickly turned on his heel, pulled out a kunai and attempted to block the attack. He managed to deflect quite a number of the weapons, but the number was still overwhelming. He could feel some of the steel pierce into his side, effectively pinning him to the ground. Gai struggled to move but realized he'd been pinned at too many points to free himself.

Riko stared on in horror, trying to determine the next best move.

"Found you." came a dark voice from behind her. Riko turned in time to see Yura standing behind her with a kunai drawn. Riko was quick enough to draw her weapon and block his attack, bringing them into a stalemate. She pushed back against the boy as he applied more pressure. She could feel the two blades slipping. Riko was about to give out under the boy's weight when suddenly Yura was knocked hard to the side by Koji, who landed an aerial kick into the side of Yura's head.

"Run!" Koji ordered. Riko did not question him and took off into the open field, hoping to help Gai.

Koji busied himself with the angry looking sand ninja who had now dropped his kunai. Yura lunged forward, attempting to land a hard strike into the side of Koji's neck. Koji quickly blocked the attack and using the tips of the fingers on his free hand, sealed 12 different chakra flow points on the boys left side.

"Shit." Yura hissed, pulling away in pain.

Koji stepped forward, ready to land another few critical hits when a sharp slashing sensation ran across his back. He turned around to see Dokumi behind him with one of her fans drawn.

"I thought this dance was for just the two of us." She sighed. "I thought we had something special."

Koji dodged the swipe of her blade that followed but was not prepared for Yura behind him. Yura quickly landed a hard hit on the back of Koji's neck, causing him to collapse into an unconscious pile.

___________

Riko was still running across the open space towards Gai. She had to set her teammate free. Two on one, they were useless. Riko was nearly within reach of her other teammate when she heard a whizzing noise behind her. She dropped hard to the ground as another one of Dokumi's fan blade attacks whizzed over top of her. She quickly rolled over and realized Koji was no longer around to help her.

"Where is Koji?" Riko demanded.

"The pale eyed kid? Knocked out pretty good." Dokumi teased. "Looks like you're all on your own."

Riko stood up and drew another kunai from her belt. She spun around cautiously as the sand ninjas slowly closed in around her from all angles.

"Just give us the scroll and we'll let you go." Yashamaru said with a sweet and gentle voice.

"Don't lie to the poor girl, she knows dam well we're going to kill her." Dokumi smiled menacingly.

Riko could feel her heart pounding in her chest. There was no escape. Her teammates were captured, and she was alone. She was all alone and these people were going to kill her. "No…no…no…" Riko half spoke to herself, trying to deny the situation in front of her. The desperation was causing her voice to crack.

"No? Honey you really don't have a choice in this." Dokumi snorted. "Try dying with some dignity at least."

"Leave her alone!" Gai shouted, pulling and pushing against the weapons that were holding him down. Struggling didn't seem to loosen them at all and only made his wounds hurt more. "You're fight is with me!" He barked.

This got a laugh out of the sand ninjas. "Ha! Last time I checked, you were pinned to the ground and well, oh look, you're still pinned to the ground." Dokumi chide.

The ninjas drew closer to their prey. Riko locked her hands around the scroll on her belt as her heart started to beat faster. Her breath quickened. The panic was starting to set in. There was no solution. All the textbook solutions were gone. She was what they referred to in classes as 'royally screwed'.

"No…no…no…" She repeated. She bent her head down and wrapped her arms defensively around the scroll and the kunai. "Stay away form me. I'm warning you." Riko said.

"Or what?" Dokumi asked in amusement, tiling her head to the side.

Riko did the only thing she could think of. She reached into her pouch and grabbed an explosive tag. "I'd rather blow myself up that let you sand pigs pass this exams." She hissed.

"You don't have the nerve. Look at you, you're shaking." Yashamaru commented.

Sure enough, Riko's hands were vibrating around the collection of things in her hands. If they attempted to take it from her, she would set of the tag. It was the only thing she could do; they were going to kill her anyways.

They were right about another thing. She was scared. She didn't want to die. She felt too young for that sort of thing. She just wanted this whole situation to go away.

"Go away!" She said, the anger building in her voice. The sand ninjas continued to approach. Riko felt a whirlwind of anger and fear spinning around in her chest, moving faster with every passing second as the ninjas drew in closer. She clutched even tighter to the scroll and braced herself to set off the explosive tag. "Leave us alone!" She screamed shutting her eyes and preparing for the worst.

However, before Riko could set off the explosive tag, she felt something unhitch in her stomach, like the latch on a chest. Her chakra gave out a pulse she had never felt before and she suddenly her energy levels dropped like a dead weight. The sudden change brought her to her knees. She tried to open her eyes, yet the world was dark, as if there was not enough oxygen getting to her brain to fuel her sight. She felt close to throwing up as her stomach seized inside of her. She brought her head down to what she believed must have been the ground, trying to get her bearings back.

After a few moments, the sensation subsided slightly. She lifted her head and blinked her eyes a few times to help clear her vision. Only moments ago, the sand ninjas had been inches from her, ready to run her through and end her life. Now, they were laying scattered in various directions about 20 to 30 feet from her, bleeding and moaning in pain. She looked over at Dokumi, who lifted her head in confusion.

"What…what the hell was that? How can you use such a skill?" Dokumi half hissed in pain.

As disoriented as she was, Riko did not have time to question what was happening; she had to help her teammates. She was still a little dizzy, but forced herself to her feet and ran over to Gai. Gai looked confused as the sand ninjas.

"Riko-chan…" He said as the girl unpinned him. "When…when did you learn to use wind chakra?" He asked.

Riko looked at him confused as she continued to free him. "I didn't…I don't even know what happened. Let's just find Koji." She said, deciding that asking questions right now was only likely to confuse things more.

Gai gave her a nod, also assuming it would be better to talk about later. Standing up as quickly as he could, he clutched the wound on his side as the hot searing pain of the gouge became more prominent with the stretching of his torso. Doing his best to ignore it he followed Riko as she ran towards where their teammate had been. Upon reaching the spot, they found Koji starting to come to.

"Koji…are you okay?" Riko asked, walking over and helping him up.

"Yeah." He replied. "I'm fine. My head will stop hurting soon. Where's the enemy?"

The group turned to find the sand ninjas were no longer lying aimlessly around, but were now standing together, looking rather pissed and ready to kill.

"I don't know how you did that." Yura said in a dark voice. "But I'm going to chop you into tiny pieces after that stunt. Acting all helpless and then pulling crap like that."

Koji looked at his team confused. "What did I miss?" He asked.

"No time to explain. We need to come up with a plan to take these three down." Riko said.

"Their injuries help us a bit." Gai commented.

"We're not in much better shape though." Koji replied, giving his own neck a gentle rub.

Riko, still feeling a little sick from earlier, tried to problem solve as best as she could. "I can only think of one plan. It's risky, but I don't see another solution." She said.

"What do you need us to do?" Gai asked.

"Keep them busy and on my signal…" She explained.

"Are you three done chattering? We have better things to do." Dokumi snapped, patting the metal fan blades on her hip.

After finishing her explanation, Riko took off into the trees leaving Koji and Gai to face off against the ninjas.

"2 on 3. That didn't work very well for you last time now did it?" Yura questioned.

"Things can change." Koji replied.

"Yosh!" Gai shouted in support of his teammate.

The pair charged forward full force at the disbelieving sand ninjas. Once within a few meters, Koji used a body flicker and quickly reappeared behind Yura. He landed a few quick hits, effectively closing another five chakra points on the boy's body. Yura dropped hard to the ground to avoid further hits but was so focused on Koji he didn't see Gai coming full force towards him performing a slide kick. Gai's heel connected hard with Yura's face. He could feel the boy's nose cartilage cracking under the force of his heel causing the sand ninja to let out a horrific scream.

"You bastards!" Dokumi cried, taking a swing at Koji from the side. The boy quickly sidestepped and gave her a quick shove forward, causing her to stumble directly over Gai. Gai took the opportunity from his ground position to swing his foot up and nail Dokumi hard in the stomach. Yashamaru, unable to stand watching his teammates being pummeled, summoned his chakra strings again causing the weapons on the ground to rise like the living dead.

A strong whistle pierced the air, indicating Riko's plan was set. Gai and Koji took off into the trees with the sand ninja's hot on their trail.

"I'm going to slaughter those little pricks!" Dokumi screamed. Yura did not reply. The bloodlust was burning in his eyes, ignoring the searing pain in his face. Koji and Gai continued to climb higher and higher into the trees.

"Can you see who has it?" Gai asked his teammate. Koji focused his eyes, and searched the pursuers.

"The blonde one." He replied.

"I'm on it!" Gai said, quickly dropping off to the side to allow the sand ninjas to catch up. Koji sidestepped in the opposite direction to do the same. The sand ninjas were nearly in range. Dokumi drew both of her fan blades, readying the strongest attack she could muster.

"Now!" Riko shouted from her hiding spot.

Koji and Gai pulled out a pair of kunai each and threw them at the sand ninjas with everything they had. The sand ninjas dodged with ease, moving back to back to prevent the blonde girl from making any sudden attacks on them. What they failed to notice was the Shuriken flying past them, right in the direction of Yashamaru's belt. The shuriken hit the pouch causing it to spill all it's contents out and down into the tree branches below. Gai spotted the scroll and dove for it, dropping out of sight. Koji followed quickly behind.

Dokumi turned to her teammate and started yelling. "You moron! You let them get the scroll!" She shouted.

"Don't yell at me! It's not my fault!" He demanded.

"Shut up!" Yura snapped.

They were so wrapped up in their argument; they failed to notice Riko come shooting out from her hiding spot, clutching a rather large pile of wires in her hand. Most of the wires had already been in place thanks to their earlier set up, but it had taken her a few minutes to lay out the extras needed to ensure there would be no escape. As she leapt over to an adjacent tree, she tightened the wires causing a barrage of thin yet sharp metallic strings to pull up around the sand ninjas.

Dokumi admired the metal spider's web. "This was your plan? Pathetic. My blades will cut through this like…"

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Riko warned.

Dokumi gave her a questioning look. Riko pointed further up the wires surrounding them. Sure enough, the majority of the trip wires had been decorated with a number of explosive tags.

"It would be a shame if you blew yourself to Kingdom Come." Riko chide at the sand ninja, enjoying the look of fury on their faces.

Dokumi glared at her from their explosive prison. "You little bitch." She hissed.

Riko smiled and tied the wires off to a branch. "Don't worry, I'm sure someone will find you eventually." She said, dropping down through the trees and leaving the sand ninjas behind. She joined her teammates on the forest floor.

"Nice work guys!" She smiled. The two returned her smiles of relief.

"I'm really glad that worked." Koji said. "If not, we'd probably be dead."

"No way Koji. We were never going to lose against those weak little sand ninjas. We're one of the best teams in Konoha!" Gai cheered.

"You're cockier than I am." Koji replied.

The energy drain finally started to kick in a bit more as their adrenaline rushes died down. Riko took a seat as Gai worked on patching up his side wound and Koji re-bandaged his arms.

"We'd better get moving. We don't know if those three might get out of that trap." Koji advised.

"Good point." Riko replied. "Are you okay to move Gai?"

The boy gave her a smile. "No problem. Just going to patch myself up so the smell doesn't draw any keen noses from other teams." He said.

"Well, well…" came a male voice from the trees.

The three quickly rose to their feet and armed themselves for the unfamiliar voice. They had really been hoping for a break. Having to take on another team right now was not good considering the shape they were in. For the most part, they were pretty beat up and tired.

After a few tense moments, the owner of the voice stepped out of the trees. His dark eyes glinted in the forest light, which accented his pale features. It made him look even more angelic than the last time they saw him.

"Tekka-san." Riko said in surprise, relaxing a little at the sight of a familiar ninja.

"Hello you three." He said calmly as Rin and Obito appeared behind him. "I see you took care of those sand ninjas."

Gai gave him a smile. "You bet! Now we're going to head for the finish line!"

"I see." Tekka mused. "So you have both scrolls. That's unfortunate."

Gai's smile quickly faded. "What do you mean?"

"I'm afraid I'll have to take it from you then." Tekka replied.

Rin looked shocked at her teammate's behavior. "But Tekka-san. We already have both scrolls. There is no need to do this."

"They are our competition. The more we eliminate the better." He replied.

"These are our friends Tekka-san." Obito tried to explain. "They're Konoha just like us, let's just leave them alone."

Tekka turned his head to the side and frowned at the boy behind him. "You're too soft Obito…it's no wonder the clan looks down on you."

Obito gritted his teeth and balled his hands into fists at his sides. Rin quickly placed a hand on his shoulder, half holding him back. Getting in a fight with Tekka was not a good idea. She would never admit it aloud but Tekka was much stronger than Obito right now.

"Please Tekka-san. Let's just leave." Rin begged.

"I will only be a minute." Tekka replied giving her a pat on the head like you would to a small child. The gesture was demeaning, yet she remained silent for fear of what he might do if she defied him. It was moments like this she missed the silver-haired Chuunin being on their team.

Riko felt the anger inside of her overriding her logic. They'd nearly died for this scroll and she was not about to lose it to some team that came in like a bunch of vultures to pick at the tattered remains after a fight. She didn't want to fight her friend, but right now, she was willing to make an exception if it meant keeping the scroll.

"You'll be getting this scroll over my dead body." Riko hissed, drawing a kunai from the ground and arming herself with it. She glared at the egotistical little boy on the hill. She was afraid, but she did her best to look strong and energized for battle.

"If you insist." Tekka replied, giving a shrug of his shoulders. Riko watched in awe as his eyes suddenly dripped a crimson blood color. She felt the world melt around her into a shade of black, her teammates suddenly disappearing.

She looked around frantically for anything familiar but all that she saw was black. Had he knocked her out? Was she already dead and didn't even know it?

"You will give me that scroll." came an omnipresent voice from around her. She spun around frantically looking for the source but couldn't find anything. Suddenly the ground beneath her feet began to shift. She looked down in horror as a large snake rose from under her and wrapped itself tightly around her form. Riko was paralyzed as the snake wrapped itself tighter around her squeezing the life out of her. She could feel her bones creaking under the pressure. The pain was so intense she couldn't even think.

"Oh shit!" Koji hissed reaching over nearly dropping Riko as she collapsed to the ground. "Gai, run with the scroll you have. Don't look back. Head for the tower and I'll find you." Koji ordered.

"What's going on? What happened to Riko?" Gai demanded, looking at the girl now limp in Koji's arms. Koji kept his focus on Riko, forcing his chakra through the girl as hard as he could. Finally, he felt the genjutsu break as she stopped shaking in pain and just passed out completely.

"Don't look into that kid's eyes. You will die. Just run. We'll be fine, I promise. We need to keep him from getting both our scrolls, so go!" Koji demanded.

"But Ko-" Gai tried to argue. Leaving his teammates behind was the last thing he wanted to do.

"Go I promise we'll be alright. I won't let anything happen to Riko!" Koji shouted, the desperation starting to set in.

Gai finally took the seriousness of his words and dashed off into the woods. Koji slipped Riko into his arms and took off into the woods himself in another direction, effectively splitting up the scrolls, making any need to pursue them pointless. They did not know who had which and it would be a waste of time to try to follow them now.

Tekka looked back at his team in annoyance. "Why did you not help me?" He asked the pair standing stone still behind him.

Rin looked down at her feet but Obito was not afraid. He was still angry from the comment before and watching what he had just done to their friend sent him over the edge. "Because you don't do that sort of crap to friends." He shot back.

"Friends? You can't be serious if you think those people are your friends." Tekka said, allowing his eyes to return to their original midnight shade. "This whole village hates our clan, and you damn well know it."

_________

Gai ran faster…and faster. He hadn't ran this fast in ages and he wasn't holding back. He focused his chakra sending out their team's agreed upon distress signal. It was very subtle. You would only notice it if you were focusing for the signal. They had worked on this pattern of pulsing their chakra with Misaki-sensei a number of times. It was useful for tracking teammates while trying to remain under cover. He kept charging forward in the direction of the central tower. Hopefully, his team would arrive okay. He was finally reaching a comfortable pace when he heard abnormal movement on the forest floor below. He quickly paused and dropped his chakra levels to as low as he feasibly could, forgetting the distress signal for now.

_Invisible. I'm invisible. _He chanted in his head, looking over the branch he was sprawled out on as the grass ninjas walked by.

"Man, that last team nearly got us." The one ninja said.

"Lucky we got away. Maybe we'll come across a weaker team soon." Another ninja piped up.

"I was sort of hoping that we'd have come across a Konoha ninja by now. Sensei will be very disappointed if we haven't killed any by the end of this round." The third added.

"Good point. You'd think it would be easier to kill them with how damn soft this village is."

"I know. You barely get questioned at the damn door, and then they leave us all alone in the forest where we can just pick them off."

"Don't fret so much guys. We'll get our chance to kill them soon enough."

"Yeah, fair enough."

_What? I thought the grass ninjas were our allies. Is everyone out to kill us? _Gai thought from his hiding spot.

"What was that?" The one grass ninja shouted.

Gai held in his breath. Had he been found out? Could they sense him? He waited patiently, trying his best to be stone cold still. Finally, the grass ninja spoke again. "Show yourself!" He demanded.

Gai refused to move, they would have to flush him out if they wanted to face off. No way he was going 3 on 1 injured the way he was. Before he knew it, another group of ninjas appeared.

"Moon ninja?" The Grass ninja laughed. "You should be easy for the picking."

One of the moon ninjas spoke up. "As if, we'll rip you to shreds!"

"Bring it on."

"Let's keep this short." The leader of the grass ninjas said. "We both have more important people to kill don't we?"

"Agreed." One of the moon ninjas said with a sinister smile.

_So they're here to kill Konoha ninjas too? Oh great. _Gai thought.

Gai watched the display from his hiding spot with wonder as they began to face off. Attacking, dodging, defending…completely oblivious to his presence. Gai continued to stare and was surprised when he spotted the scrolls of both teams hanging on straps on the waists of two ninjas. He's assumed they would keep it in their supply pouches like everyone else, but it appeared they were very confident about being able to keep their scrolls safe. Then a terrible idea popped into Gai's head.

_This really would be an ideal training opportunity. _Gai quickly shook the idea away. _No, don't be stupid, you have a mission to complete. _

Yet he couldn't shake the thought from his mind completely. Finally, going against his best judgment, Gai sat up in a huddle position and pulled down his leg warmers, revealing an array of weapons and scrolls but more importantly, a set of leg weights wrapped around each of his calves.

_Time to see if the training paid off._

Gai gently untied the weights and set them against the trunk of the tree. He rolled onto his knees after pulling his leg warmers back up and crouched into a sprinting position.

_Here goes nothing. _

* * *

Koji leapt silently from tree to tree, clutching the unconscious girl in his arms. He could finally see the form of the central tower developing in front of him through the thick brush. Not much longer and he would be there. He would have to find a safe place and wait for Gai to arrive. He wanted to set Riko down before trying to look for him.

As he drew closer to a safe spot to wait, he felt the girl stir in his arms. He looked down briefly to catch her eyes fluttering open.

"K-Koji? What happened?" She asked.

"You got hit with the Sharingan. I managed to break the technique but you had already sustained some damage so you passed out." He said as he continued to trek forward.

Riko pulled her hand up to her face and groaned. "Ugh, my head." She moaned.

"I'm guessing it's a side effect. It should wear off."

Riko looked around as her world cleared a bit more. "Where is Gai?" She asked.

"We got separated. He should be fine. We're going to meet him a little further ahead." Koji continued to focus on his journey forward. He finally reached a decent spot and gently sat Riko down. "This will be fine." He said.

Riko propped herself against the center of the tree and looked up at Koji with a sheepish smile. "Not very impressive, me passing out like that huh?" She muttered.

"Don't be ashamed. The Sharingan is not something to be toyed with. If it weren't for you we'd probably all be dead from those sand ninjas anyway." Koji said, not making eye contact. Tossing out compliments made him uncomfortable but he figured the girl deserved it for all she'd done.

"I see." She said. "Thank you, but I don't think we would have survived if any one of us hadn't been there."

Koji nodded silently, staring off into the darkness of the forest, trying to pick up signs of their teammate. After a few minutes of searching, he could not hold back his curiosity any longer.

"Riko, can I ask you something?" He said.

"Sure." She replied, rubbing her temples to try to draw the pain out of her skull.

"What….what was it like being under the spell of those eyes?" He asked.

Riko paused in her movements but remained silent as she tried to develop the best answer. "It…it's something I never want to experience again." She replied, the memory of the giant snake crushing her coming back.

The sound of tree branches breaking cut off their conversation. Riko pulled a kunai out and tried to ready herself as best as possible from her sitting position. The effects of the Sharingan were still affecting her and standing up was unlikely. Koji turned casually on his heal in the direction of the noise, knowing who it was.

"'bout time you showed up." Koji smirked.

A rather battered and bruised looking Gai hopped up onto the large branch with his teammates and gave them a smile.

Riko looked at him in concern. "Gai, were you ambushed?" She asked.

Gai gave her a nervous laugh. "No…no, no I'm fine." He reassured her.

"Did you lose the scroll?" Koji asked, more concerned about their finishing this round of the exams.

"I did one better!" Gai said reaching into his pouch and revealing two heaven scrolls and an earth scroll.

"Where did you get all those!?" Riko demanded.

"I stole them!" Gai smiled.

"How? How could you have stolen two other scrolls?" Koji asked in utter shock.

Gai, feeling quite proud, retold his story:

The ninjas started to battle it out, throwing kicks, punches, weapons and genjutsus all around. Gai waited patiently in his crouched position, like a cat hiding in the grass ready to pounce on an unsuspecting mouse. He waited for the best opportunity and upon seeing his ideal opening; he dashed along the edge of the field, to get behind the unsuspecting ninja. Without the weights around his legs, he felt like he was running on air. In a flash, he had managed to circle the field quickly pick off the scroll, cutting it lose with a kunai in his hand. He dashed around the other side and did the same this to the other teams scroll carrier. He did not want to wait around to see if they had noticed him and headed off into the woods, leaving his leg weights behind in the tree.

"Did you feel that?" The one moon ninja asked.

"Don't try cheap distraction techniques with me." The grass ninja replied. "You think I'm a Genin or something?"

"No really I…hey, where the hell is our scroll?!" The moon ninja shouted, patting at the void on his hip.

The grass ninja smiled proudly. "Nice work team! Looks like we'll be moving on."

"What do you mean? We don't have the scroll." One of his teammates replied.

"Where's our scroll?" The last of the grass ninjas shouted, realizing it was now missing from his waist.

"You set us up!" The first grass ninja accused the moon ninjas.

"What?! You set us up!" They retorted.

"I knew you moon ninjas were nothing but a bunch of dirty liars!"

"The only dirty ninjas are you low life Grass Ninjas!"

"Take that back!"

_______________

"So wait a minute." Riko said, cutting him off. "If you got away with out being detected, why do you look like you got pummeled?"

Gai gave a nervous laugh. "We'll you see…without my leg weights, I'm not really used to the speed and I ran into a few trees on the way over here." He said.

"You idiot." Koji muttered.

"Shut up! I got us two more scrolls." Gai retorted.

"We only needed the one!" Koji shouted back in anger, causing Gai to become silent. "We had all we needed and you risked it on some stupid experiment? What would you have done if they caught you and you cost us that scroll? Huh? We nearly died for that thing!"

"Koji…" Riko half whispered.

"Stop acting like an amateur and grow up. This isn't a training session, it's real. I do not care if you got all the damn scrolls. Acting so carelessly proves nothing." Koji said, his eyes giving off an icy glare at his stunned teammate.

Gai hung his head. What Koji was saying was true. His actions had certainly been careless. He couldn't help but think: was it not impressive that he had accomplished such a feat?

Riko, feeling the negative mood falling over the group decided to end it. She stood up as best as she could, the combination of being dizzy and exhausted making it quite the effort. "The important thing is we have what we need and we're all alive. Let's just get to the tower before anything else bad happens." She suggested.

"Are you okay to walk?" Gai asked, walking over to assist her.

Riko waved her hands in front of her and gave a smile. "I'm fine, I'm fine. My chakra levels are just a little low and that eye technique took quite a bit out of me. I can move though." She reassured him.

After demonstrating she was capable of walking, the group continued towards the central tower. They walked into the empty chamber, prepared for the worst, but were pleasantly surprised to fine the place was deserted, save for the instructions lining the wall.

"Looks like we have to open the scrolls on the marked area over there at the same time." Riko said, analyzing the writing.

The boys each pulled out a scroll and walked over to the markings on the floor. They unraveled the scrolls in unison over the markings causing a puff of purple smoke to rise up and fill the room. Once it cleared, it revealed a group of very familiar faces.

"Summoning scrolls?" Koji half questioned.

The summoning scrolls had brought forth quite a number of people. The Hokage, their teacher and a number of other Jonin and examiners were all staring back at them.

"Congratulations!" the Hokage said. "You passed."

The older man looked around the room in surprise. "No one else close behind? This is surprising; most of the teams arrive at the same time. You must have been pretty quick." He said with a smile.

The group slumped to the floor with exhaustion, causing the Hokage to chuckle. "My oh my, a little tired are we? We'll go rest up over there till the others arrive." He said.

The students were grateful for the chance to rest and went over to the corner without so much as a word.

It took a while, but other teams started to trickle in. They followed the instructions indicated on the floor to prove they had completed the test, and then joined the other Genin against the wall. Riko was relieved to see both her friends Rin and Anko make it to the finish line, as was Koji to see Asuma and Obito.

"You made it!" Riko smiled as the shy medic ninja approached her.

Rin gave her a nod and a smile but noticed the unease cross over Riko's face as she stared Uchiha standing behind her. Gai immediately stood up and acted as a blockade between the Uchiha and Riko making it clear he wanted the boy to stay the hell away.

Tekka was unmoved by the act and came to stand next to Rin. "Congratulations on making it here." He said a tad too cheerfully.

Gai was taken a back. This kid had a lot nerve after what he'd done to Riko.

"I think its best we go speak with Sensei." Koji said, not even bothering to acknowledge the Uchiha. See you later Obito-kun."

Obito gave a nod. Koji was acting calm but he could tell from his movements that he was inches away from trying to take Tekka out.

Rin, Koji and Gai approached their sensei who was standing amongst a crowd of Jonin. She seemed distracted by Kushina a little ways down the room who was giving a report to Sarutobi. The look on the man's face troubled her.

"Sensei!" Gai called out breaking the woman from her trance. She turned to them with a smile.

"Well hello you three. It's good to see you made it." She said.

"Yosh! Now there's only one more round to go!" Gai said, puffing up his chest, which made Misaki laugh.

"Don't get ahead of yourself. The next exam will be even harder. You better be prepared." She warned.

"They certainly will." came an older voice from behind Misaki. "But from what I've heard about your team, I have no worries about your performances in the next round."

"Sarutobi-sama." Misaki said, turning in surprise. The man gave her a polite wave.

Sarutobi turned to the students. "You'd best join the others for the debriefing. I know you just met up with your teacher, but I need to borrow her for a meeting."

Misaki returned her gaze to her students. "Rest up tonight you three. We'll meet in the training grounds to discuss the next exam tomorrow at noon." She said.

The students nodded and took off towards the crowd forming in the center of the room. Sarutobi watched them go, his smile quickly turned to a frown as he continued to speak to the Jonin beside him. "We'll meet in my office in 20 minutes. There are some serious issues to discuss." He said.

Misaki gave a nod in acknowledgement.

"Hai, Hokage-sama." Misaki said, giving a quick bow and heading off to find her best friend Minato. She could not help but worry about the seriousness in the Hokage's voice as she left.

____________

Kushina was standing before the group of Genin, with her hands on her hips. "Congratulations! Six teams have made it to the final rounds. You should be proud that you made it this far considering we started with nearly 45 teams." She said. Kushina looked over the group in front of her. What impressed her the most was the number of Konoha Genin that had made it through. Of the six surviving teams, four of them were from the village.

_This village is getting strong. _Kushina thought.

She cleared her throat and continued with the debriefing. "Alright, the final exam will be in one month's time. It will be a one on one battle royal tournament. You should take this month as an opportunity to train. Your first round opponents will be posted next week outside the arena. It should help give you an advantage in preparing. Dismissed!" She said and headed off for the exit.

"A whole month?" Riko commented. "It's great we have the time to train but still, is that enough time to get ready for all the possible opponents in the tournament?" She asked.

"We'll just have to work extra hard! For starters, tomorrow we'll wake up and do a workout before Misaki-sensei arrives at the training grounds!" Gai cheered.

"Are you nuts? We just went through hell Gai. We need to rest for a few hours." Koji demanded.

"Nonsense, if we don't take advantage of every second they give us we'll never be ready." Gai argued back.

"If we are dead from exhaustion, what good will we be in the tournament?" Koji shot back.

"And I was so enjoying the peace and quite." Riko sighed.

_____________

Misaki closed the door to the Hokage's office after everyone necessary had entered. Many of the Jonin teachers along with Kushina and the ANBU coordinator were present for the meeting. Sarutobi took a seat in his office chair and lit his pipe. He took a few long inhales from it and closed his eyes preparing to speak.

"Overall, the second exam has been a success. There were a few minor injuries and recoveries that needed to be made by the surveillance team but overall it went quite smooth." He said.

"If it was so successful, why are we here than Hokage-sama?" Minato asked.

"Perhaps I should let Kushina give this report." He said, turning his attention towards the red headed woman who gave him a nod.

"Thank you Hokage-sama." She said. She took in a deep breath and began her explanation. "We are putting the next exams on high alert. During my surveillance of the second round examinations I over heard multiple conversations from outside village teams regarding assassination attempt on our students and various higher authorities within the village. At first I speculated it was just childish banter, but the more clones I collected information from, the more distinct patterns began to emerge."

"Organized conspiracy? What a surprise!" Orochimaru drawled from his seat in the corner.

Kushina gave the pale-skinned man a frown. "I know that death threats are not uncommon to the village, but this was just too well organized. I believe that we may have an ambush plan on our hands. Not only that, but I got the impression some of the Genin competitors may not even be Genins but rather higher ranked ninjas in disguise. It would be poor judgment for us not to be on high alert." She explained.

"Why not just cancel the exams all together?" Inochi suggested. "Why continue to put both the village and our students at risk?"

"Canceling the exams all together would likely do more bad than good." Sarutobi said. "We would be clearly voicing our suspicions by doing so and the delicate balance we have right now with the other villages would be shattered. I believe it is in our best interest to trust the relations we have, however weak they may be, but be on alert."

The council members who had been silent throughout the meeting looked outraged. "You are seriously putting this village at risk if you do not cancel these exams!" They shouted at him.

"And I'm putting them at risk if I do." Sarutobi replied, taking another long puff from his pipe. "This is a situation that cannot be easily won. I appreciate your concern but I want to try to build the relationships with the other villages, not destroy them. We will take every precaution necessary to ensure the students and village is safe, but the exams will continue."

The council members looked terribly displeased with this argument but remained silent.

"You are all to prepare your students as you see fit." Sarutobi continued. "The ANBU captain, the Chuunin organization committee and I will work on building an effective defense for the next round of exams. Try not to spread the unease as you go out of my office. Everything will be taken care of." The man reassured the room.

The members of the meeting began to head out the door. Kushina, Misaki and Minato were the last to leave but Sarutobi caught them at the door. "Could you three wait for a moment?" Sarutobi asked.

"Of course." They replied, shutting the door again. The two Jonin took a seat in the available chairs in the room. Kushina perched herself by window waiting for the Hokage to give her permission to speak as she knew what he wanted to discuss.

"There is another issue I wanted to address." Sarutobi said. "We had a few incidents occur regarding both your teams that I think need to be deal with them now."

"What's wrong?" Misaki asked, the worry getting to her. Her team had seemed a little beat up, but their condition was pretty par for the second round of exams.

Kushina cut in. "It's nothing too serious...yet. The first issue was with a technique I saw the young girl Kienso Riko on your team use, Misaki-chan. It was rather advanced and I don't recall you ever telling me you trained your students in elemental jutsu, so I just wanted to check."

"What do you mean? What did she do?" Misaki asked.

"The technique was nothing I'd seen before, but I could tell it was a wind jutsu. She'd been cornered by the sand ninjas and in a panic screamed. When she screamed, this vivid energy came out of her entire body. It was as if, she had been holding it in and it just let loose. It was clearly a wind based jutsu and it spiraled out from around her and cut up the sand ninjas pretty good. What was more disturbing was that she nearly threw up after using it. I have seen the side effects of using over powering jutsus before. That one was at least a level C if not B and it nearly caused a lot of stress to her body. I didn't believe you would teach your student something she was not prepared for."

"I haven't taught a single one of my students anything like that. I haven't even tested there affinities yet." Misaki said, having a hard time taking in what she had just heard.

"Then perhaps this break would be a good opportunity to do just that. If the girl really does have wind based jutsu in her, it would be in our best interest to refine it quickly if she's already attempting to use it." Sarutobi suggested. "Minato would be an excellent teacher for such as case wouldn't he?"

Minato gave a nod. "I'd be happy to help if wind is the girl's affinity." He said. "But Sarutobi-sama, what happened with my students that has you concerned?"

"It's not your Genins that have me concerned. Obito and Rin have been doing fine. Tekka was caught attacking Misaki's students unnecessarily, even going as far as to use his Sharingan and render one of them unconscious."

"One of my students suffered through the Sharingan?" Misaki asked, feeling the horror crouching in on her.

"Don't fret Misaki, your team was clearly fine when they arrived. In fact, they preformed quite impressively. Why your students even managed to collect an additional two scrolls without causing any casualties. You should be proud." Sarutobi said.

"Really?" She asked, absolutely stunned that her students had managed such a feat.

Sarutobi returned his attention to Minato. "It's not unusual to try and eliminate competition in the second round, but his tactics were a little questionable. If Misaki's team had not been so quick to react, his technique likely would have killed the student. I just want you to keep an eye on him if you can. We don't want any unnecessary causalities."

Minato gave a nod. "Of course, I'll see to it immediately." He replied.

Sarutobi leaned back in his chair and smiled. "I'm very proud of this village. The next generation is proving to be quite strong. Let's just hope they make the right decisions as they walk their paths."

END OF CHAPTER 12

Phew! That was a long one. Hope you enjoyed it! I know it's a little more serious than my other chapters, but it'll lighten up again soon I promise or so help me I will run around the village 500 times with an angry mongoose strapped to my back!

Gai: Even I'm not stupid enough to promise that.

Lila: *sweat drops*


	13. Chapter 13 Affinity

The History of Konoha's Noble Green Beast

CHAPTER 13

It was mid morning when Koji stepped out of his home and made his way to the training grounds. Gai had been very adamant that they meet up first thing in the morning to train, but after a small argument…well…small for them, they'd come to the conclusion that there was no way in hell Koji was going to show up for an early morning training session the day after the second exams.

It was a good thing he had put his foot down too. Last night's family meeting had lasted much longer than normal and he had gotten to bed quite late. It seemed like the meetings had been getting longer and longer for some time now. The Hyuuga family meetings only involved the men of the clan and it had been an honor to allow Koji to start attending at such a young age. Frankly, he found most of the discussion to be quite dry and pointless. They would talk about typical things such as branch family duties, incidents that had occurred in the village and outside of the village…yet they always finished on the same topic: Relationships with the other major clans of the village. The one that always seemed to create the biggest stir was the Uchiha family. Koji normally perked up at this point, as the power struggle between the major families had always fascinated him.

The elder Hyuugas would never speak ill of the Uchiha family, yet Koji could tell from the creases that would form on his father's forehead at the mention of their name, they certainly weren't the best of friends. Outside of his friendship with Obito and his recent encounter with Tekka, Koji had no real interaction with the clan. Other clans within the village could easily be pegged within a social hierarchy, yet it was as if the Uchiha clan was in a hierarchy all on its own. It didn't help that they seemed to segregate themselves in a small district they'd formed in part of the village. Koji didn't like this about the Uchihas and as such, he was happy keeping his exposure to them as limited as possible.

Koji lifted his hands above his head and let out a loud yawn. He tried to rub the sleep from his eyes as he approached the training fields. Once the field became visible, he smirked at the sight in front of him. He would have bet his small savings on it and sure enough, Gai was hard at work, beating the living crap out of a training post on the north end of the field. Misaki was standing a few feet from him looking terribly frustrated.

"Please Gai-kun! Just consider it." Misaki begged.

Gai stopped in mid kick and gave a defiant stomp of his foot to the ground. "Never!" He shouted.

"But…but this one is so much better. At least try it on." She said, holding up a dark blue uniform towards the boy.

Gai gave the suit a quick once over and frowned. "It's nothing like the one I have." He said.

"Exactly! It's so much better. That's why I want you to have it." She pleaded. _Anything to get you to give up that fashion nightmare!_

"But sensei, I have still not proven myself worthy of this suit to you." He demanded, crossing his arms over his chest.

"No, no, no Gai you have done plenty. I see that you are worthy of the suit, so please: let's try something else." She begged, waving the uniform in her hands, hoping to entice him.

The boy reached out and touched the fabric cautiously as if it might bite him. He stood quietly contemplating taking the suit from her then pulled his hand away violently. "It's just too heavy Misaki-sensei. The suit I already have has done wonders for my training. It would be foolish to stop using it now!" He explained.

Misaki hung her head in defeat. "Is there nothing I can do to make you change your mind?" She muttered.

Gai, ignorant of his teacher's disappointment gave his signature smile and thumbs up. "Nope, but thank you for testing me Misaki-sensei. You almost had me, but I figured out you were just making sure I'm serious about this suit. You are very sneaky!"

_I was not testing you, I was saving you!_

"You really should take Misaki-sensei up on the offer Fuzzy Eyebrows." Koji chimed in, drawing the two ninja's attention. "Maybe people wouldn't think you were such a weirdo."

"The only weirdo is you No Eyes!" Gai shot back.

"It's too early to be arguing like this!" Riko cut in as she approached the group from the other side. "But I have to agree with Koji on this on Gai, that suit Misaki-sensei is offering you is a lot nicer."

Gai clutched his arms protectively around himself. "You're not fooling me." Gai said, his eyes narrowing with suspicion. "You just want me to take it off so you can have it!"

Riko sighed and hung her head in defeat. "You don't understand at all."

"I really wish you'd see that this isn't a trick Gai-kun." Misaki added as she tucked her failed attempt at reason back into her pack on the ground. She'd have to try again some other time.

"So Sensei, what is our training for today?" Riko asked cheerfully, trying to change the subject before another argument broke out.

Misaki glanced over at the team as she pulled a few slips of paper from her pack. "For starters, we are going to do some testing." She said.

Koji threw his arms up into the air in frustration. "For crying out loud! We just did two exams, was that not enough testing?"

Masaki gave a laugh. "Don't worry, I'm not going to mess with your heads of ship you off to your doom in some dark forest." She replied, walking up to the students. "Are any of you familiar with nature manipulation?"

Riko gave a nod. "Of course Sensei, we learned about it at the academy. It's where a ninja converts their chakra to one of the five key elements: water, earth, fire, lightning or wind."

Gai quickly cut in. "We're going to learn nature manipulation today? Awesome!" He cheered.

Misaki shook her head and smiled. Gai was always two steps ahead on everything. "Calm down Gai. Today we're just going to determine your affinity." She said, straightening the pieces of paper in her hand.

Gai tiled his head to the side. "Affinity?"

Koji gave a sigh and explained it to him. "Moron. Every ninja has a specific element they can draw upon better than the others: their strength."

Misaki, nodded her head in approval. "And with that strength, you must also learn your weakness. Every element has an element it is strong against and one that it is weak against. Today we will determine your strength and from there, I will find you a suitable teacher to train you. While I'm searching, you will perform other training and study up on your element so you'll be good to go once a teacher is available."

"But sensei, why are you not training us?" Riko asked.

"I might, depending on your element. You see, I have two elements that I am particularly strong with. If you were not one of those two, I would find someone that specializes in that element so you get the best possible training. I certainly can't teach what I'm not good at." She said.

"Makes sense." Koji replied. "So how do we determine our elemental strength?"

"With these." Misaki said, holding up the slips of paper in her hand. "These are paper cards made from trees that are fed chakra their entire lives. Because of that, they are very sensitive to any chakra they are exposed to. Depending on your element, they will react differently." She said, holding out the paper. After looking at it for only a moment, the paper crumpled up between her fingers. "Most ninjas lean toward one particular element; however there are some ninjas that have secondary affinities they are also strong in." She held up a second piece of paper in her hand, which quickly became soggy.

"My primary element is lightning. If you are a lightning user, the paper crinkles. My secondary is water. If you are a water user, it will become soggy." She said, holding out both pieces of paper so the students could see. "Fire will burn, wind will split in the paper in half and earth will cause it to crumble."

Gai's eyes were wide with excitement. "That's so cool! Please Sensei, test me first, test me first!" He cheered while bouncing around like a jackrabbit.

"Very well. Come here." She said. The bright-eyed boy quickly dashed up to his teacher and took the piece of paper from her hand. "Now, just concentrate on running a little of your chakra through the paper and it will take on the form of your element."

Gai stared hard at the piece of paper in his hand, concentrating on putting his energy into the tiny fibers. Nothing happened in the first. Getting impatient, he pushed his chakra harder through the paper and was violently surprised when it burst into flames, burning his fingers. "Yeow! Hot, hot, hot, hot!" He cried, tossing the sheet away and sucking on his seared finer tips.

"Honestly Gai-kun, that's why I told you to only put a little of your chakra through the paper, you need to be more patient with things." Misaki sighed.

"Thsowy." Gai mumbled with a mouth full of fingers.

"Don't worry about it." Misaki said. "So you are a fire element. I've got to say, I'm not surprised. The element suits your personality very well. Unfortunately, I will not be able to train you on that one, but I have a good teacher in mind for you. We will talk about that later though. First, let's test the others. How about you Koji?"

Koji approached his teacher and took one of the thin cards out of her hand. He stared at it calmly, waiting for a response and smiled a little when the paper suddenly crumpled up in between his fingers.

Misaki was also grinning, aware of what this meant. "Well…well. Look like you and I have a bit more in common now eh Koji?" She said. "Lucky for you, I'm the expert in lightning jutsu. I'll be sure to give you some good moves to suit your style."

Gai pulled his hand out of his mouth and frowned. "That's not fair! I want you to teach me some cool moves too Sensei!" He demanded.

"I already told you Gai, I'm not good with fire elements." She said.

"Yeah, suck it up Fuzzy Eyebrows. I'm sure Misaki-sensei will find someone good for you. I hear the traveling circus has some very intelligent baboons that might be able to help you out." Koji teased.

"Are you making fun of me?" Gai growled.

"Never." Koji said, his voice laced with sarcasm.

Misaki gave Koji a curt knock on the head. "There's no need for that." She chastised the Hyuuga and then turned her attention to the last member of their team. "I guess all that is left is to test you, Riko."

Riko walked over and took the slip of paper from her teacher. She was about to push her chakra through the thin sheet when Gai cut in.

"There is no need to waste your paper Misaki-sensei. We already saw Riko-chan use her element. During the exam she used a wind chakra attack!" Gai explained.

Misaki turned to Riko who looked confused on what to do. "Even so, I'd like to confirm it with the papers. Go ahead Riko." She said reassuringly.

Riko gave a nod and focused her energy into the paper. The group remained silent, waiting for something to happen. It seemed like an eternity had gone by and nothing had happened.

"Are you putting your chakra through it Riko?" Misaki asked.

Riko looked nervously over at her teacher, afraid she had done something wrong. "Yes, Sensei. I'm concentrating it through my hand into the paper."

"We'll…try a little more then. Maybe it's not enough." She said.

Riko nodded and forced more through the little paper. Still nothing.

Misaki walked over and pulled the paper from the girl's hand. "Must be a dud. Here." She said, handing her a new piece of paper. Riko attempted again, with no result. Despite the frustration evident on Riko's face, Misaki calmly pulled the paper from Riko's hand and attempted to put her own chakra through it. She was a little surprised when the paper immediately crumpled up in her hand, since she'd assumed it was another dud.

"Odd." Misaki said, knitting her eyebrows together. She turned back to Riko and took her by the hand. "Try running your chakra into my hand." She ordered.

Riko gave a nod and did as she was told. Misaki could definitely feel the girl's chakra passing into her. "Alright, you can stop. Tell you what. Take this paper here and put all the chakra you can into it."

"But Sensei, won't that burn her hand right off?" Gai demanded.

"Only if she's a fire user like you." Misaki said, quickly bit her tongue at her poor choice of words when she saw the blonde-haired girls face pale.

"I'd really rather not burn my hands off today Sensei." Riko said.

"Don't worry, I doubt you are a fire user. If what Gai says is true, and you already used a wind element attack, than that is likely your element. Just try putting all your chakra into the paper, okay? I'll make sure you don't get hurt." She said in the most reassuring voice she could.

After a brief hesitation, Riko nodded and pushed all the chakra she could into the paper. The paper still did not take on a shape, but began to dance and wiggle between her fingers.

"Is it working?" Gai asked, leaning in closer to get a better view.

Misaki cheered her student on. "Looks like it. Keep it up Riko!"

"Hai!" Riko said, concentrating even harder. She wasn't going to be left behind by her teammates. This paper was going to take on a shape if she had to stand here all day.

The paper continued to dance and wiggle in her hand, still not taking on any distinct shape.

_Come on…change dammit! _Riko ordered the paper in her mind.

The wriggling became quicker and more violent, like a bird trying to escape a predator's grasp. Her teammates drew in closer with anticipation. Riko finally closed her eyes and gave one more intense push of her chakra. When she opened her eyes, the paper did a very odd thing.

It exploded like a puff of dust.

The team stood silent for a moment, unsure what had just happened. Finally, Gai spoke up.

"What does a 'poof' mean?" he asked.

Misaki was terribly confused. "I…I don't know." She replied, reaching out and examining the girl's hand.

Riko hung her head in disappointment. "Am I broken or something?" She groaned.

"I doubt you're broken, you did manage to put your chakra through it." Koji said. "It looked like the paper turned into a dust cloud."

"Are you saying I'm a dust user?" Riko asked, skeptical that such a thing could really exist.

"That would make you a dust bunny!" Gai grinned. "You are very unique Riko-chan!"

Riko responded with a throaty growl.

Koji chuckled. "You must have a death wish or something Gai."

Misaki placed a hand on Riko's shoulder. "Don't worry, you are not a dust bunny—I mean a dust user. There is no such thing. I'm sure there is a perfectly good explanation for this." Misaki said. "Tell you what, while the other two are busy studying their elements tonight, I'll book you an appointment with one of the medical ninjas. They have more advanced tests they can perform to determine your elemental affinity."

"Misaki-sensei, there isn't something wrong with Riko-chan is there?" Gai asked, becoming concerned for his teammates well being.

"Don't fret Gai, everything is fine. Now please, you two get in a workout and go study your elements at the library. I expect you to be knowledgeable on the subject tomorrow when we rendezvous at 0700 hours." She ordered the two boys.

Gai hung his head out and started to whine. "But Sensei, reading is so boring! Can't we just train some more?" He asked.

"What wrong Gai? All those big words in 'dem big books too scary for you?" Koji teased.

"Stop calling me stupid!" Gai screamed.

"I'll stop calling you stupid when you stop acting stupid. Stupid."

"Stop it!"

"Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Stuuuuu---pid!"

Misaki shook her head. "Once you two are done ripping the day lights out of each other, go study. I'm taking Riko to the hospital. I don't have time to separate you children." She said to no reply.

"You just wait, I'll kick your ass in the finals!" Gai said, now clutching the Hyuuga by his vest.

"Ha! You think you're going to make it to the final round? That's rich!" Koji said turning his face to the side and laughing.

"As if you think YOU'RE going to make it to the finals yourself? I bet you get your ass kicked!" Gai shot back.

"Only someone stupid would say something like that." Koji replied with a smirk.

"Grrrrrah!"

___________

"Here you are Minato-san! One bowl of ramen with extra grilled pork and egg." The shopkeeper smiled as he placed the steaming bowl in front of the drooling Jonin.

"Thank you very much!" He said, barely pulling his eyes away from the bowl as he spoke. He'd been so busy today, he'd hardly eaten anything. Ramen always looked good to him but right now, with how hungry he was, it looked down right gorgeous.

"Eating alone Minato-kun?" Misaki said, sneaking up behind him. "Did you make Kushina-chan angry again?"

Minato turned his head to the side, chopsticks still stuffed in his mouth. "Mphm."

Misaki shook her head and took the seat next to him. "Honestly, I thought you two would be good for each other, but now I see you've just picked up her bad eating habits."

Minato swallowed the bite of ramen and turned to his friend with a chuckle. "Oh come on, she's not that bad."

"My cat Niko is better at cleaning his face while he eats than she is." Misaki said, shifting her eyes back and forth to make sure her friend wasn't within earshot. "So where is she anyways?"

"She's buried under a stack of paperwork from the second round of the exams. Apparently the examiners have to do a report on each team's progress." He explained, twirling the chopsticks between his fingers before diving in for another bite.

"But, Kushina-chan was the only monitor in the forest aside from the ABNU squad. That means she would have to write all of them!" Misaki said as she lifted up the menu from the counter so she could pick out her dinner.

"Exactly. Using kage bushin no jutsu was great for during the exam, but I guess she didn't think through the paperwork that would come afterwards. I tried to go console her, but the moment I walked through the door, she tried to pawn the work off on me."

"But you weren't even there!" Misaki said as she waved the shopkeeper over to order herself a bowl of ramen.

"I know. She didn't like that argument much." Minato shrugged as he took another bite. "So how did the testing go this morning?" He asked, changing the subject.

Misaki furrowed her eyebrows in thought. "More complicated than expected." She replied.

"Oh?" Minato asked, looking up from his dinner with interest.

Misaki nodded. "Well, the boys were no trouble. Gai is a fire user and Koji is a lightning user."

"Well, that saves you finding one teacher. Who do you have in mind for Gai's training?"

"Well, the best fire users in the village are the Uchihas. I have a few people in mind from their clan that I could ask. If not, there is always our old ANBU captain." She said giving a polite nod as the shopkeeper placed a bowl of vegetable ramen in front of her.

"Kinji? He retired didn't he?" Minato asked, handing his friend a set of chopsticks from the cup in front of him.

"He did, but if I can't find someone from the Uchiha family to help me out, he's probably the next best thing. He may be old, but he's the best fire user outside of the Uchiha family that I've ever seen."

"True. It would probably take quite a bit of convincing though. He's been retired for a while now." Minato grinned at the memory their ANBU squad captain. He was friendly enough if you were on his good side…if.

"I can take care of that old fossil, don't worry." Misaki said with a wink and finally dug into the bowl of ramen in front of her.

"So you said that the boys were no trouble, but what about Riko?" Minato asked.

"That's the thing, I was sure she was going to be a wind user and had it lined up for her to train with you, but the thing is, the testing paper didn't come back wind." She replied.

"What did they come back as?" He asked, placing his chopsticks in the empty bowl and gesturing for another round.

"It exploded." Misaki shrugged.

"So fire." Minato said, as if the answer was obvious.

"No, not fire…it just exploded."

"Like: bang?" Minato asked, making an explosion gesture with his hand.

"No…more like poof." Misaki said, tapping the chopsticks to her lips, remembering the strange display in the field.

"Poof?"

"Poof."

"What the hell does a poof mean?" Minato crooked his head to the side.

"That's what I was wondering. I took her to the hospital and had a medical ninja test her more thoroughly."

"Are the results back yet?" He asked.

"Yes and they aren't that good." She said, setting the chopsticks down.

*****

"Well?" Misaki asked, getting irritated with the silent treatment the medical ninja was giving her and Riko as he looked over his notes.

He finally looked up, putting on his 'everything is going to be okay' smile that he had mastered after years of giving out bad news. He wasn't fooling either of the women in the room though. "We'll I have to say, I've never seen anything like this before." He replied.

"So what's the answer? Do I have an elemental strength? Am I broken?" Riko asked, the stress building in her voice. Misaki placed a hand gently on the girl's shoulder and tried to calm her down.

"Well there isn't an easy way to say this, but I'm afraid in all actuality, you don't have an affinity." He replied.

"How is that even possible? All ninjas have an affinity. It's not like she can't use elemental jutsu, we've already seen her use it." Misaki said.

"It's nothing like that…it' well…I'll just come out and say it. Riko, I'm afraid has a defect in her chakra system." The medical ninja replied, skimming his hands over the chart notes as he talked, just to be sure.

"So it's true. I am broken!" Riko cried out and hung her head.

"Please doctor, you need to give us a better explanation than that." Misaki begged, wrapping her arm a little tighter around her student to comfort her.

"Don't look at it like you are broken Riko-san. You are perfectly healthy; you're system just runs a little differently than others." He said, kneeling down to the girl's eye level.

Riko looked up and wiped the tears from her eyes. "How?" She asked.

"Your chakra system in your body functions fine, in fact it is obvious you train very hard. Your control and accuracy is very good. However, when it comes to your elemental chakra, things get a bit more complicated." He said.

"Then simplify it so we can understand what's going on." Misaki demanded. This doctor seemed to enjoy flaunting his abilities and it was only going to upset Riko more if she didn't understand what was going on.

"Okay, how can I best explain this? Ah! I know!" He said, quickly standing up and walking over to the writing board on the wall. He pulled out a piece of chalk and started to draw.

"Imagine your chakra is a lake that is being held together by 6 dams. Each dam represents a different element and then the normal way you release your chakra." He said, drawing out an image that looked like a large lake with six doors and writing out the elements on five of them. "When you normally use chakra, you open the gate here." He said pointing to the unmarked door. "That allows you to climb trees, change form, and create clones….typical ninja techniques. However, when you open one of the element dams, there is a filter on the other side that allows you to convert the chakra to that type of element. Depending on your affinity, some filters will be larger and work more efficiently for you, so more of your chakra can be converted. That is why people tend to use their strongest element because they can draw more powerful attacks from it."

"Okay. So where is the difference in me?" Riko asked.

"Like I said, your chakra system has a defect. Instead of having multiple dams, yours works more like this," The man said. He wiped the elemental doors away from the image of the lake and drew one door with a tunnel and another door at the end of the tunnel. He reexamined the picture as if he wasn't sure it was accurate. He then added a circle at the door connected to the lake that looked like a large marble blocking the exit.

"The elemental part of your system looks more like one dam and all the filters have been meshed together into…a sort of ball that gets in the way of the door. Occasionally, chakra gets past it and store up here!" He said, pointing to the tunnel." Since all the filters have been meshed together, you have no control over what type of element your chakra gets converted into and it pools up in this tunnel."

"So it builds up. Why doesn't it just leave her body then?" Misaki asked.

"Because her body has developed a blocking mechanism here." He said, pointing to the door at the end of the tunnel. "I think her body did it as an instinctive safety precaution because of the leaks that are happening."

"So, it's just going to keep building up and I'm going to explode?" Riko asked, terror filling her eyes.

"No, no no. The vessel space has a limit it cannot exceed. As long as the block remains intact, your chakra can't convert past that limit. I don't foresee any reason why that would change. Your body has done a pretty good job protecting itself."

"How did this happen?" Riko whimpered.

"You were likely just born this way Riko-san. There is no evidence that this was a recent change. It was only noticed now because you were trying to test your affinity. Like I said, the rest of your chakra system is very normal and you've had no need to use elemental chakra up until this point so it got overlooked." He replied.

"What about the wind attack she used. If her body is blocking exit of the elemental energy, why did that happen?" Misaki asked.

"It would appear that the extreme emotional reaction she had during the exam caused her to open the block. I don't know if moving the block is something that can be done consciously since I've never seen anything like this before, but if you are willing to come in for a few more tests, we might be able to find out for you."

"I don't want to be a lab rat." Riko snapped, the weight of all this information finally getting to her.

"It's not to do experiments on you Riko; it's to help you possibly get control of your elemental chakra system so you can use it. As of right now, there is no way for you to use elemental jutsu. At least not safely." The doctor explained.

Riko turned up to her teacher. "What should I do Sensei?" She asked. There was no one else she trusted more at this moment to give her advice than Misaki.

Masaki knit her eyebrows. "I think it would be good to come back and see what the doctors can do, but let's take care of it after the exams. Is it a problem for her to compete in the finals?" Misaki asked, looking at the doctor for approval.

"No. She should be fine. Normal ninja techniques that use chakra should not have an impact, so she should be fine to compete. The sooner she can come in though, the sooner we can work on this." The doctor said.

"Very well, come on Riko, let's take some time to think through all of this and get ready for the finals."

"Hai." Riko said, doing her best to perk back up.

*****

"Fascinating. I've never heard of anything like it." Minato said, in awe of what he had just been told. "Is she really going to be okay?"

Misaki nodded. "The doctor advised against using or attempting to use elemental chakra for now until we understand her situation better, but the block her body has developed it keeping everything in check."

"Well that's good. I must say Misaki; your team gets more interesting by the second."

"Why thank you, and how about yours? How are things going on team 7?" She asked.

Minato's eyes lit up in mid bite or ramen as he remembered something. "Good! Actually, you just reminded me. After our talk with Sarutobi-sama I decided I might as well test my own team's affinities." Minato reached into his pouch and pulled out the used papers. "Take a look."

Misaki leaned over and looked at the papers on the counter. One was burned, one as partially crumbled and one was crumpled up. Her eyes landed on the crumpled up one. "Oh, I see. You have a lightning user you want me to help you out with. I'm afraid I'm already pretty busy with Koji until the exams are over."

"Actually, I don't want you to train him for the exams. Since he's already passed them." Minato grinned.

"It's not one of your students taking the exams? Then who…" Misaki's eyes went wide when she pieced it together. "Kakashi!?" She shouted, scaring the poor shopkeeper who was trying to carefully poor noodles.

Misaki was now bouncing up and down in her seat like a six year old on her birthday.

"Easy! Easy! Yes. It turns out he has a lightning affinity. I think it would only be right if he got to work with the best in the business." Minato said.

Misaki was clutching the little piece of paper as if she had just won the lottery. "I…I can't believe this." She half sputtered.

"Well try to keep calm. You will not be able to help him until after the exams are over. We both have a lot of other training that needs to take priority right now." He warned.

Misaki shook her head to bring herself back to reality. "Yes…yes you are right. Sorry I was just so excited." She said.

Minato gave her a gentle smile and a pat on the shoulder. "I understand. You've been waiting a long time for this."

Misaki nodded, clutching the paper to her chest. _I can finally keep my promise to you…Sakumo._

___________

Gai peered through the library catalogue, searching for books with Koji right beside him searching another file.

"Find anything yet?" Gai asked.

"No. I don't get it. How can they not have any books on elemental techniques?" Koji asked, flipping more furiously through the index cards.

Gai shrugged and looked over his shoulder. He noticed a rather tall and thin woman heading towards them, wearing a pin on her shirt that indicated she was the head librarian. Gai called out to her as she walked by. "Excuse me miss?"

The woman turned around quick on her heals. "Shhhh! It's a library!" She hissed.

Gai flushed a little with embarrassment. "Sorry." He said, bringing his voice down to a hush. "Do you know where we can find books on elemental jutsus?"

The woman adjusted the glasses on the end of her rather pointed noise and pursed her lips in thought. "I believe they recently got moved up to the second floor under Chakra Control. Try there." She said.

"Thank you." Gai said with a polite bow. After the librarian had left, he turned expecting Koji to be waiting for him however, the boy had already taken off for the second floor.

"Hey, wait up." He half shouted, half hissed after his teammate.

Koji looked over his shoulder with a smirk. "You were taking too long." He said.

"I was being polite." He snapped back.

"Whatever, let's just get the books we need and go." He replied.

They finally reached the second floor and located the section titled Chakra Control. Gai scanned the shelf for fire element books. "Water….water….earth….water…..earth….wind…." He muttered to himself.

Gai finally tilted his head up and spotted what he was looking for. "Hey, Koji." He said, pointing up to the top shelf.

Koji looked up and spotted the books Gai was pointing at. Sure enough, they were on the top shelf side by side: fire and lightning.

"What kind of crappy filing system is this?" Koji muttered.

Gai stood up on his tiptoes and attempted to reach out for one of the books. He strained as hard as he could but could not reach the shelf.

"This is embarrassing; I'm too short to reach the shelf." Gai frowned.

"Pfft.. Let me handle this." Koji said. He walked over and attempted to reach up and grab the books himself however, he was very embarrassed to find out; he wasn't much taller than Gai.

Gai put his hands on his hips and grinned. "Just because your ego is huge doesn't mean it's going to help us reach the top shelf."

"Oh shut up and find something we can stand on!" Koji snapped.

"Shhhhh." A crowd of nearby readers glared at the two arguing boys.

"Sorry." Koji and Gai whispered.

Gai scanned the room and was not too happy that today seemed to be the day to study at the library. There wasn't a single chair that wasn't taken on this floor. He continued scanning and finally spotted an unattended ladder leaning against another stack. He walked over and was nearly within reach when an older higher-ranking ninja stepped out and hopped on the ladder. Gai frowned at the man who just turned to him with a smile. "Sorry short stuff, I got here first."

Gai crossed his arms over his chest and stomped back to his teammate.

"What happened?" Koji asked.

"He called me short." Gai pouted.

"Well you are short."

"That's beside the point!"

"Shhhh."

"Sorry."

"Why don't we just climb it?" Gai suggested.

"Hmmm. Not a bad idea. Go for it." Koji said, stepping back to give Gai room.

"What? Why do I have to climb?" Gai demanded.

"It was your idea!" Koji replied, rolling his eyes.

"So?"

"Shhh."

"Sorry."

Gai glared at his teammate and was going to stand off with him over the issue but decided getting the books and reading like Misaki had ordered was more important right now.

Gai walked up to the shelf and pulled himself up onto the first level. So far, there were no problems. He then lifted himself up onto the next shelf and felt the bookcase give out a little groan. Figuring it was just the old wood the shelf was made from, he pulled himself up a little higher and felt the shelf begin to give out and lean forward.

"Uh oh." He said, quickly hopping off the shelf before it could tilt over.

Koji looked at him with an annoyed expression. "Why'd you stop?" He asked.

"It was going to fall." Gai hissed, trying his best to keep his voice down.

"Man, you can't do anything can you?" Koji sighed. "Alright, here," he held out his hands linked together with the palms facing up. "Use me as a foothold."

Gai walked over and grabbed onto Koji's shoulder. He slipped his foot into Koji's hand and pushed himself up. This easily brought him up to a level where he could reach the books. "Alright, it worked!" He cheered. He was about to reach out a take one of the books when the support let go from under him.

CRASH

"Shhhh!"

Gai shook his head and rolled off his teammate. He looked over at the Hyuuga who looked a little disturbed. "What happened?" He asked.

"Holy crap you weigh more than you look!" He hissed.

Gai crooked his head to the side. "I shouldn't weigh anymore than 45kg. Are you really that weak? You should train with me more."

"There is no way in hell you weigh 45kg." Koji hissed. "What are you carrying on you?"

Gai reached into his suit and pulled out some miscellaneous items. A scroll, some kunai and a pen…nothing that could weight as much as what Koji had felt.

"You must have something else on you." Koji demanded.

Gai shrugged his shoulders and pulled down his leg warmers to pull out the remaining objects. That's when Koji saw something that made his eye twitch.

"Gai?"

"Hmm?"

"What are those?" Koji asked, pointing at Gai's calves.

Gai looked at what Koji was pointing too and smiled cheerfully. "Oh, these are my training weights they make my legs heav-" He stopped in mid sentence when he realized what Koji was getting at. "Oooooooh."

"Yeah 'Oh' is right you dumbass!" Koji snapped.

"Shhhh."

"Sorry."

Koji stood up and brushed himself off. "I can't believe you didn't even think of those stupid weights."

"Well if you trained with me more often, it probably wouldn't have been such a big deal." He shrugged.

"My style of fighting doesn't require me to be able to hit like some big beast…and that's not the point. I picked you up assuming I was lifting an eleven-year-old boy, not an eleven-year-old boy and a double size bed. I could have been injured." Koji said.

"I'm telling you, training would fix that."

"Oh shut up. You're lifting me now!"

Gai shrugged and held out his hands as a foothold. Koji quickly lifted himself up and started to pull down books from both the lightning section and fire section. Once his hands were full, he started dropping a few on the ground so he could retrieve more. One of these books unfortunately landed on Gai's foot.

"Yeow!" He cried, releasing his grip on Koji's foot. The boy came careening down hard to the floor resulting in the second dog pile of the evening.

CRASH

"BE QUIET!" The surrounding ninjas shouted.

Koji looked up exasperated. "What the hell!?"

"Don't look at me. You dropped that book on my foot!" Gai shouted back.

"You shouldn't have had your foot in the way of where I was dropping the books!"

"You shouldn't have been dropping them in the first place! They'll get damaged and we'll have to pay for them!"

"So it's YOU TWO that are making all the noise!" came a loud female voice from down the aisle.

The two boy's looked over to see the librarian from earlier now storming towards them.

"In the last 10 minutes I've gotten more noise complaints than I've had all year! What the hell is going on?" She snapped.

"We…we just need the books on lightning and fire." Gai stuttered nervously.

"That's the big emergency? For the love of the Hokage, here!" The woman said, reaching up and pulling the remaining books off the shelf. "Take them. Take all of them. Get down stairs, check them out and don't come back. Do you understand?"

The two boys looked at the books that had been shoved into their hands and then back at the enraged women in front of them. "Yes mam." They replied.

"Good!" She said and stormed off again.

The boys stood in the aisle alone for a few moments in silence. Gai finally turned to Koji with a chipper smile. "Well, that was pretty easy." He said.

END CHAPTER 13


	14. Chapter 14 The Original Fire

A/N- Finally got a chance to update. Thanks everyone for being so patient. Would love to hear your feedback!

The History of Konoha's Noble Green Beast

CHAPTER 14

"Right this way Misaki-sama!" The bright-eyed 7-year-old boy shouted as he tugged on his favorite Jonin's arm.

"Easy Haru-kun! You're going to tear my arm off if you keep doing that." Misaki teased the excited little boy.

"Gomen." He replied, still clutching to her arm. "It's just been so long since you've come to visit. I know granddad will be very excited to see you."

"I'm excited to see him as well." Misaki said as they continued down the hallways of the old house.

"I want to hear all about the exciting things you've been doing Misaki-sama. Have you fought anyone recently? Can I see you use denkou steppu?"

"I've been very busy with missions Haru-kun, but I can tell you about them some other time. As for denkou steppu, your house is a little cramped for me to be using that technique. I'm liable to crash into a wall or something."

"I see…then how about that technique you and grandpa perfected. What was it called again?"

Misaki decided to play dumb and shrugged. "I'm not sure what you're talking about."

The little boy hopped up and down in frustration; making Misaki concerned, he might actually pull her arm off in his excitement. "You know, the one where all your tattoos light up! It's soooo cool!"

"Sonny, if she shows you THAT technique you won't see your next birthday." came a gruff voice from behind the sliding door at the end of the hall. Misaki turned in the direction of the voice. "No one has ever walked away from that technique alive, am I right in saying that?" the voice asked.

Misaki reached forward and pulled the door open. "Not that I'm aware of." She said, stepping into the dimly lit room. "Hello Kinji-sempai."

"Hello Storm Cloud." He replied. "It's been a while." The man took a deep inhale from his smoking pipe. The limited lighting in the room created an unusual glint in his steel blue eyes. He gave her what appeared to be a cheerful smile; causing creases around his lips become more prominent. His hair was long and grey, cascading down his back in a tight braid. His beard was short and scruffy. It looked a little more tousled than she remembered: likely a luxury afforded to those in retirement. He gestured to the satin cushion on the other side of the table he was behind. Misaki walked forward and took her seat.

"Honestly Sempai. Don't you think I'm a little old for pet names now?" She said, feigning irritation.

"I've been calling you Storm Cloud since the day I met you. I don't just give pet names to anyone you know." He replied.

"You had pet names for our whole squad." She frowned.

"Hmm? Oh yes, I suppose I did." He said, scratching his chin. "Let's see, Minato was Thunder Pup, right? He always got so mad when I called him that." The man chuckled and tapped his smoking pipe against the table in thought. "And that other boy…what was it…Oh yes, dumbass!"

"Sir, he has a real name." Misaki smiled politely.

Kinji shook his head. "No. No I'm pretty sure it was just dumbass."

"He wasn't THAT terrible."

"In all my years of service, that BOY fell into more traps than any other ANBU squad member I've ever met. How he ever got through the entry examinations, I will never know." The man rubbed his temple as if the mere thought of their former teammate gave him a headache. "We could have shaved 20% of the time off our missions if we hadn't spent so much time recovering him." The man growled. "What a moron. I should have beaten his hide from one end of the village to the other."

"I believe you did that sir."

"Hmmm? Oh yes, I suppose I did. Boy screamed like a little woman to boot."

"That's because you were trying to set him on fire."

"Kids these days…weak as paper." He shrugged. "Let's talk about something more pleasant than that idiot. What brings you around to my home on such a rare occasion?"

"I'm sorry I haven't visited recently." She said. "I've been very busy with my new team. How have you been?"

The man waved his hand in dismissal. "Don't worry yourself over me. I may be old, but that little ball of energy bouncing behind you keeps me more than busy." He said, pointing behind her.

Misaki turned around to see Haru, standing tentatively by the door.

"Why don't you go make us some tea Haru? Misaki and I need to catch up for a little while." The older man said.

"Yes Grandpa!" Haru shouted and ran down the hall.

The old man chuckled. "That boy lights up like a fire cracker whenever you come around, you know that? Now he'll be babbling like a brook all through dinner."

Misaki laughed. "I'm sorry I've disturbed the natural order."

"I suppose it can't be helped. Not many people come and visit old fossils like me now a days. I should try and revel in the presence of the few who do." He replied, taking in another puff of smoke.

"Such a negative outlook on life Sempai, that's so unlike you. You should be trying to enjoy your retirement more." She said.

"What's to enjoy? I sit here all day looking at the pond in my backyard; I reread all my books and play with my little grandson. Before I retired, I used to wake up first this in the morning and wipe out platoons of enemy ninjas before breakfast was even ready. An old war vet like me doesn't take well to this sort of calm." He explained.

"I suppose. Then perhaps my presence here can be a blessing after all." She said, reaching into her pack and pulling out a folder.

"What do you mean?" He asked, raising his eyebrow out of curiosity.

"I have a favor to ask of you Sempai. You see, my team is entered in the finals of the Chuunin exams. I recently tested their affinities and found out one of them is a fire user. I would be honored if you could take the time to train him."

Kinji let out a hearty laugh. "I'm retired Misaki. I haven't used any of my techniques in a few years now. I doubt I could train your student."

"Don't give me that." She said, swatting the folder to the table and shoving it forward. "You still know your techniques. You were the best. Better than the best. You can't have rusted up that fast." She demanded.

"Even if I hadn't, I'm too busy in my retirement to deal with little brats. My grandson is already a handful." The older man said, shoving the folder back in her direction.

"You just said you were bored." She argued, pushing the folder back at him.

"I lied." He said, pushing the file back again and then crossing his arms over his chest.

"No, now you're lying." She said, pointing an accusing finger at him.

"You won't win this argument Storm Cloud. I will not train some little Genin. Those years of my life are over. Now, if you have nothing else happy to discuss, perhaps you should leave me to my reading." He said, turning and shuffling through the books on his shelf to get the point across.

"But Sempai…" She whined.

"I said no!" He snapped.

_Old as a fossil with the maturity of an infant_. She thought.

Misaki tightened her lips in frustration. She hadn't wanted to resort to this, but she was desperate. She'd already asked four members of the Uchiha clan and been turned down quite quickly. She didn't like using cheap tactics, but Kinji was being stubborn. Now she would have to hit him where it really hurt.

"I suppose there really is no changing your mind." She sighed, standing up. She grabbed the folder and started heading for the door.

She braced herself, knowing full well that the next few words she uttered might be her last. "I'll just have to go speak with Fugaku-san and see if he's available to train my student. He's pretty close to your skill level if my memory serves me correctly." She tapped her fingers to her lips innocently as if she really had to think it over in her mind.

The man looked up sharply at her from his books. Fire was starting to flicker in his eyes. "What did you just say?"

_Got him_.

She turned on her heel and looked over at her former captain. "We'll the Uchiha clan is the best for fire users in the village. It would only make sense to ask them next. I'm sure Fugaku-san's guidance will be most beneficial for my student."

Like a flash, the man stood up, knocking over the table. He charged towards the woman in the doorway like an angry bull until he was inches away from her. He looked her up and down, assessing her facial features.

"You're lying." He hissed, testing the waters.

"Try me." She said, giving him a defiant look.

"You know how I feel about that clan and more importantly…that MAN." He warned.

"And you know how important preparing my students is to me. If you won't train him, I have no other choice." She shrugged.

Misaki moved away from her Sempai and started to head down the hall. She was trying to be as casual about it as possible even though the butterflies in her stomach were telling her to run like hell. She managed to pull off an aura of calm quite well…that is until she heard the wood paneling break from her Sempai's fist.

"How dare you even think about going to that low life scum. Tainting some innocent youth with his depraved nature! Get back here Storm Cloud!" The man shouted.

Misaki picked up her pace, knowing her captain would be within striking distance shortly. Just then, Haru came around the corner carrying the tea on a tray. "Here it is, hot and fresh—"

"I made him mad!" Misaki shouted as she took off past the little boy.

Haru didn't think twice. He knew his grandpa's short temper and ran off into the kitchen to hide.

Misaki was now running for the exit. She roughly pulled the front door open and took off down the stairs. Sensing the menacing aura rapidly approaching behind her, she quickly spun on her heel just in time to block Kinji's fist as it came hurtling towards her. She held him in place by the hand and looked straight into his eyes. She couldn't show fear to this man. She had to do this for her student. Misaki wouldn't deny the man was intimidating as hell though. The anger was practically radiating off her Sempai.

"You really don't like him do you?" She said, keeping as serious as possible. Thank god she hadn't told him she'd already gone to the Uchiha clan. He probably would have charred her right on the spot.

"The Uchiha's are the low life dogs of this village." He said through gritted teeth. "I thought I taught you to be more cautious of them; not to jump right into their jaws!"

"Then help me train my student." She said, being as calm and sincere as possible. "You're the only other person who can do it."

Their staring contest went on for a little while longer as Kinji debated things over in his head. After a few moments had passed, he finally pulled away. "Fine." He said.

"What?"

"Fine. I will train him. I will make the appropriate arrangements. Send him to my house after you've debriefed him in the morning. You'd better prepare him well. You should know the hell I'm about to put him through. I don't do well with criers."

"Yes Sempai. Thank you." She said, handing him the file. She then spun on her heel and took off down the road before he could change his mind.

Kinji opened the file and started flipping through it. As he looked over the student's data, he could not help but furrow his eyebrows. "What's up with that haircut?"

_______________

"Good morning you three!" Misaki said with a wave. "Glad to see you're eager to learn."

Riko gave her teacher with a meek smile, while still watching the two boys next to her out of the corner of her eye. They were both clinging tight to their books on affinity, reading furiously while occasionally looking up to glare at one another.

_Bring it No Eyes! _Gai thought to himself. _No way you're going to learn more about your element than me!_

Koji looked up at Gai for that nth time and returned an icy look. _This kid really pisses me off!_

"Um. Guys?" Riko said, interrupting their silent battle. "I think it's time to put the books down. Misaki-sensei wants to get on with the lesson."

The boys looked over at her briefly, shared one last glare and then closed the books.

Misaki was relieved. Riko was certainly good at keeping the boys in check. Without her, the boys probably would have killed each other by now.

"Alright team." Misaki said. "Today I have a training plan scheduled for each of you. First, Koji: you will be working directly with me. We'll be focusing on getting a handle on your lightning manipulation abilities." She then turned to the others. "As for you two, you're teachers are both ready for you back in the village." She reached into her pocket and pulled out two slips of paper. "Here are their names and addresses. You are to meet up with them by noon. Be prepared, they are both tough instructors and will challenge you as you have never been challenged before. Remember that you represent team 9, even when you are working on your own. I expect absolute professionalism."

The two students gave her a nod and opened the slips of paper they had just been handed. Gai eagerly scanned over the information. Finally, he was going to get the training he needed! He glanced up at his teammate. "Isn't this exciting Riko-chan?" He cheered.

The little girl stared briefly at the name on the paper and then looked up at him with a halfhearted smile.

Gai was a little surprised by the sadness he saw in his teammate's eyes. "Riko-chan?" He asked but before she could reply, the group was interrupted by another young ninja.

"Excuse me." He said, causing the group to turn around.

Misaki had been so preoccupied with the team; she hadn't noticed his approach.

"What…what are you doing here?" She asked, a little surprised by his presence.

He stared at her lazily, but preformed a courteous bow as was typical when approaching a superior.

"Hello, I'm Hatake Kakashi." He said. "Minato-sensei informed me that you would be able to train me in the art of lightning."

Misaki stood speechless for a moment but Koji was more than happy to cut in. "If you didn't happen to notice, we're all in the middle of training here." He said.

"Kakashi…" Misaki finally spoke up. "I definitely spoke with your Sensei, but he informed me that our training would commence after the finals of the Chuunin exams." She said.

"Yes, he informed me of this as well, but I thought I would check in person just incase you were available." He said.

Misaki smiled. She was happy to see he was eager to work with her.

"I'm afraid I won't be able to train you until after the finals Kakashi. I need to dedicate the time to training my own team so they will be properly prepared. I look forward to training you after the finals though."

The boy responded with a brief nod. "I understand. Thank you anyways." He said spinning on his heal and walking away.

Gai shouted after him. "Wait Kakashi! If you stay, we can race to the village. Riko and I have to go that way!"

Riko threw a hand tightly over Gai's mouth and glared. "You need to stop embarrassing yourself." She snapped.

Gai looked over at her confused. "Waf dymeen?"

"Forget it. Just stop harassing Kakashi-kun. It's like you're obsessed or something!" She sighed, and released her grip.

Gai looked back in the direction where Kakashi had been and frowned. "Aw man, now he's gone! Riko-chan, that would have been an excellent chance to test my skills." Gai whined.

Koji snorted a little in disgust. "What an ego that Hatake kid has. Thinking he can just walk in wherever he pleases and take any sensei he wants. Just because his dad was some big shot, he thinks he rules the damn place. His father turned out to be a lousy ninja any-"

Koji didn't get to finish his sentence as his body became rigid against his will. He could still move his shoulders slightly and he still had control of his breathing, but the sensation of being held so firmly in place was terrifying to him. He turned his eyes slightly and could see Misaki standing beside him. Her eyes looked dark and there was an intense frown lining her lips.

"First lightening lesson of the day." Misaki said calmly, pressing her two fingers more firmly against the boy's spinal column. "You're body has a few primary circulatory systems: Blood, Chakra and Nervous. You're nervous system is like the central station of your body. It controls everything…the way you breathe, the way you think…without it, you would die. This particular system is very dependent on electrical impulses in order for things to happen. Failure for a nerve to transmit…or if a nerve becomes overloaded with additional electricity like what I'm doing to you right now: it will shut down. The closer you get to the brain, the more vital the systems you shutdown. Why…if I moved my hand a little higher and put a charge through you…it would probably stop your heart. Isn't that interesting?"

The little boy didn't say anything. Misaki wouldn't kill him, he was sure of this, but the menacing aura around her still made him very nervous.

Misaki gave a soft smile. "One more lesson before I let you go." Misaki said, lowering her head down so he could see her eyes better. There was intensity in them he had never seen before.

"Never speak ill of the dead from your own village. It's not becoming of any Konoha ninja. Got it?" She asked.

Riko and Gai stared at the display before them in shock. They'd never seen their sensei so intense before.

Misaki finally released her fingers from his spine, causing him to collapse. She looked over at the other students who appeared very concerned. "He's fine. His body just needs a few seconds to balance back out. Some lightning users will use that paralysis trick. It takes years of practice to get precise enough to paralyze without killing though. Great for interrogating and capturing people alive."

The two nodded their heads vigorously. "Misaki-sensei can be really scary when she's mad." Gai whispered to Riko, who gave him a nod.

Koji took a moment to lie on the ground and regain feeling throughout his body. Once he could feel most of his limbs again, he stood back up. He had clearly stepped out of bounds with his teacher, though he was not entirely sure how. Regardless he knew what he had to do. He quickly bowed his head. "My apologies Sensei…it won't happen again."

"I apologize as well. That was a bit of a harsh tactic for getting my point across, but at least you now know a little more about what your own element is capable of." She said while turning back to Gai and Riko with a smile. "Now, how about you two get going? Your teachers are probably waiting for you. I wish you the best of luck."

The two Genin nodded and ran off down the hill towards the village. Misaki watched them go.

_Good luck Gai…you'll need it most of all._

__________

Riko and Gai jogged down the hill and into the main streets of the village. Gai kept glancing next to him at his teammate. He just couldn't understand why she was so sad. Normally his teammate sparkled with a sort of youthful glow that just made her look so cute. Right now, she looked like she was going to cry.

"Riko-chan?" He asked, pausing in mid run, causing her to stop as well. The girl shook from her daze and looked over at her teammate.

"Something wrong?" She asked.

"I think I'm supposed to ask you that. Why are you so unhappy?" He asked.

Riko shrugged. "Just having a bad day I guess." She replied. She really wasn't interested in sharing her situation with her teammate.

"I see…" Gai said, scratching his chin in thought. "Then how about I tell you a joke. That might make you feel better!"

"No really Gai, you don't have to do that."

"It's okay. Just let me think…oh! I got it. Who has the easiest job in the world?" He asked.

"Gai really….you don't have to-"

"Who has the easiest job in the world?" He repeated more sternly.

Riko sighed and dropped her shoulders a little in defeat. "I don't know. Who?" She asked.

"Candle makers!" He replied with a toothy grin.

Riko tilted her head to the side. "I don't get it."

"Candle makers have the easiest job in the world because they only work on _wick_ ends." He said. He threw his head back and let out a hearty laugh at his own joke.

Riko hit her hand to her forehead and groaned. "Are you serious?"

"Pretty good right?"

"That was the cheesiest thing I've ever heard!" She said.

"But it made you smile." He grinned, pointing at her.

Such enough, Riko could feel the edges of her mouth turning up slightly. She shook her head. "It was still cheesy."

"Cheesy or not, you smiled." He replied. "So tell me why you are so sad."

Riko let out a sigh. If there was anything she'd learned about her teammate over the last few years, it was that he didn't give up on things easily. She decided it was better to tell him something rather than nothing. He would just keep pestering her otherwise. "Well. I guess I'm just getting upset because you and Koji have been improving so much faster than me." She said.

"Really? That's why you're so sad?" He asked.

Riko gave a nod. It wasn't the entire truth, but it certainly wasn't a lie. It seemed like everyday her teammates were improving by leaps and bounds. While she had certainly come a long way, it sometimes felt like they were getting further and further from her reach. Riko frowned when she noticed the goofy grin Gai was giving her. "What are you smiling about?" She asked, feeling a little hurt he was taking what she had said so lightly.

"I'm just happy because I think I can help." He said. "I have a training technique that is sure to make you improve faster!" He slipped the backpack he was wearing off his shoulders and began to rummage through it.

Riko stepped forward with interest. "Really? What is it?"

Gai smiled when he came across what he had been looking for and pulled it out. "These!"

"Leg weight?" She asked.

"Yep! Wear these while you're training and you'll definitely improve. If it hadn't been for these things, I never would have gotten those extra scrolls during the 2nd exam!" He said, holding the weights out to her.

Riko looked them over. Maybe this wasn't such a bad idea. She was quick, but she had to admit, Gai's speed had increase substantially since he started wearing the weights. Maybe it would give her the edge she needed for the finals. Riko reached out and took the weights from him.

"Gee. Thank---"

CRASH

Riko looked up in a daze from the ground.

"Are you okay Riko-chan?" Gai asked, leaning over top of her with a worried look on his face.

"These…there is no way I could wear these!" She cried.

"Really? Are you sure?" Gai asked.

"Gai, I can't even lift them off the ground! What good would wearing them do me?"

"Hmmm. I suppose you have a point. Here!" He said, picking up the weights. The way he picked them up with such ease terrified Riko a little bit. She picked herself up and brushed herself off, trying to hide her embarrassment. Gai went about pulling some of the bars off the calve braces and then held them back out to her. "Try them now."

Riko held out her hand tentatively. She took the weights from him and braced herself for another crash landing but it never came. The weights were heavy, but she could hold them up with some effort.

"Is that better?" He asked.

Riko nodded and went about pulling her boots off. She slipped the weights around her calves and pulled her boots snuggly overtop. Gai held out his hand and helped her back to her feet. Riko walked around a little. It felt a bit like walking through thick mud. "I'm not sure I can do this." She said.

"Just give it time. You get used to the feeling. If you don't notice an improvement by the end of the month I will do 100 laps around Konoha hopping on only one leg." He said.

"You really don't have to do that." She said with a sheepish smile.

"Nonsense. I always keep my promises!" He said, giving her a thumbs up.

"I don't doubt you for a second." She said. Gai was being so nice to her; it made her feel a little bad for all the times she had snapped at him. Gai continued down the street and Riko attempted to pick up her pace to keep up with him. It was certainly a lot harder with the weights on.

"Um…Gai?" She asked.

Gai continued with his jogging pace but briefly glanced over his shoulder. "What is it?"

"I just wanted to say, thank you." She replied.

Gai gave her another smile. "No problem. I'll always be there to help you!"

Riko felt her face flush a little, but she smiled regardless.

Gai quickly turned his face away.

_I am so cool!_ He thought to himself.

The two continued the rest of the way through the village in silence.

____________

Eventually Riko and Gai had to go their separate ways. Gai was now alone in a strange part of the village he had never seen before. He read over the address on the slip of paper again and looked up at the old house in front of him. "This must be it." He murmured to himself.

Gai gingerly walked up to the front door and rapped on it a few times. After a few seconds had passed, he could hear someone shuffling behind the door. The lock gave a loud click and the door pulled open revealing a boy only about half a foot shorter than him.

The boy looked Gai up and down and then tucked his head to his chest and started shaking like a nervous dog. Gai looked at him with concern. "Are you okay?" He asked.

The little boy could not contain it any longer and burst out laughing. "Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Oh wow, you look ridiculous! Is it festival time already?" The little boy asked.

Gai could feel his blood begin to boil. "I do not look ridiculous!" He shouted. "This is a top of the line ninja uniform. Only elites get to wear this!"

"Yeah, elite dorks! Even your hair…and your eyebrow!" The boy cried, clutching to his gut as he laughed.

"Knock it off you brat. You should be lucky if you ever look like me!" Gai snapped.

"That would be my nightmare." The little boy snickered.

Gai couldn't take it anymore. He grabbed the little boy by his shirt and pulled him past the doorframe. The little boy was now standing on his tiptoes as Gai held him up. "Knock it off!"

"Weirdo! Weirdo!" The boy continued to taunt him.

"I said stop it!" Gai shouted louder. He was trying to do his best to look intimidating, though his morals would never let him actually strike a kid so much younger than him.

"What ya gonna do about it?" The little boy grinned.

"I'll do something about it!" came a booming omnipotent voice.

Gai looked around for the source but couldn't see anything. He then noticed the terrified look in the young boy's eyes.

Before he could ask any questions, a towering inferno appeared just a few short feet to the right of the boys. The sudden and severe heat caused Gai to release his grip on the boy's shirt and step a few feet back. As quickly as the intense pyrotechnics had appeared, they vanished, leaving an older stern looking man behind.

"Haru!" The man bellowed. Gai peered back and noticed the young boy was now trying to use him as a shield.

"Y…yes Granddad?" Haru said, peering out from behind Gai.

"Is that any way to treat guests?" The man asked.

"S…sorry Grandpa…but…but just look at him. I've never seen anyone wearing something so ridiculous." The boy said, making a weak attempt at an argument.

This only fueled Gai up again. "I'll let you know that Konoha's Electric Leaf made this for me." He said.

The boy cocked his head to the side. Even Kinji was giving him a questioning look.

"Misaki-sama made that?" Haru said, poking at the material.

Gai crossed his hands over his chest proudly. "That's right! She said only the most elite of ninja would get to wear this uniform. So ha!" He said, giving Haru a haughty look.

_Storm Cloud must have been drinking while she was sewing again. _Kinji thought.

"Enough of this!" Kinji finally cut in. "Haru, in the house now. I shall deal with you later."

The little boy did not say another word and ran off into the house.

Gai turned and watched him leave.

"And you!" The man said. Gai quickly shot his head around only to feel the abrupt contact of the man's fist to his face. Gai went flying backwards into a pile of crates stacked by the house with a loud crash.

After shaking the daze from his head, he pulled himself from the wreckage, wincing a little in pain. The man was now standing in front of him frowning. "That's for threatening my grandson. You're here for all of two minutes and you've already made a bad impression. I hope you perform better in training to make up for it."

"You're…you're Kinji-sensei?" Gai asked.

"Oh great, another dumb one." The man groaned. "Yes. I'm Kinji, you're new sensei."

Gai abruptly bowed, taking the older man by surprise. "It is an honor to meet you Kinji-sensei. I promise to work very hard and I am sorry for insulting your family!"

The man pushed the boy back into an upright position. "Alright, alright. Take it easy. I'm not one of those hoity toity high ranking officials. Nevertheless, I appreciate you have some sense about you. Come into the house."

Gai followed his new teacher. He looked around the hallway as they went along. Everything was old and dusty. Things had clearly not been cleaned well in a long time. If Gai had ever left his house in such a state, his mother would have shipped him off in tiny pieces to the BBQ as a 'charitable donation'. Eventually they reached the end of the hall and slipped out another door into the backyard. Despite the poor upkeep of the house, the backyard was immaculate. All the bushes and trees were trimmed to perfection, the flowers were gorgeous and the small pond at the very back of the gardens was as clear as glass.

Gai did note the large barren patch at the back of the lot that seemed out of place. The small section of bare field was about 20 feet by 20 feet and seemed to be shared with the lot adjacent to them. The man reached the center of the garden and turned back to Gai.

"This will do for now." He said. Gai remained silent and awaited instruction. "For starters, I need to assess where you are at in your knowledge. I am hoping that little scene at front of my house wasn't a display of your intelligence. So it's time for a pop quiz. First! What is fire weak against?"

Gai knew the answer immediately. "Water!" He said.

"Good. Now, what is it strong against?" The man asked.

"Wind! Wind causes fire to grow." Gai replied. He was proud of himself for doing well so far.

"Alright. What happen when you combine fire nature with earth nature?" He asked.

Gai stood there confused for a second. "Combined together?" He repeated. "Um…uh…Hot rock jutsu?" He answered.

The movement was so fast that Gai barely saw it. The man moved forward and open palmed him directly in the chest. The force was so great it caused him to topple right into the pond at the back of the yard. It was at that moment Gai realized just how deep the water in the pond was. Why would someone want such a deep pond that's so small? There weren't even any fish in it. Gai finally breached the surface while sputtering up water. He looked over at the teacher a little dazed.

"What? Don't look at me like that. You got the answer wrong. The answer is Lava. Now get you're ass out of my pond." The man snapped.

Gai pulled himself out of the water and shook himself off a little bit. He finally understood the message Misaki had written under Kinji's information on the piece of paper.

_Just don't cry…he'll only hit you harder._

Gai walked back over to his teacher and braced himself for what would come next.

"Alright." The man said, pulling on his beard slightly while he thought. "Last question. When can a fire jutsu beat a water jutsu?"

Gai racked his memory quickly for the answer. "It…a fire jutsu can beat a water jutsu when the water jutsu is a lower ranking technique than the fire jutsu technique."

His teacher didn't respond. Gai became nervous so he kept talking.

"But…but if they are the same rank, the stronger element will always win." He said. He put his arms up in front of his face and braced himself for another tumble into the pond. He flinched slightly when he felt something heavy on his should, but when nothing else happened, he decided to open his eyes. Kinji was standing with his hand on Gai's shoulder and smiling at him.

"Correct." Kinji said. He then walked off towards the barren patch at the back of the lot and motioned for Gai to follow. Gai gave a sigh of relief and followed quietly after him.

"We'll, I'm glad to see you aren't a total moron. Plus you didn't cry. You're already looking better than my last dumbass subordinate." He said.

Gai's eyes lit up and he smiled. He was already getting on his teacher's good side!

"Don't look into that much. The last kid was a REAL moron. You still have a ways to go if you're going to impress me."

This knocked the smile right off Gai's face.

"You should feel lucky you have Misaki-sensei as a leader. I wouldn't do a favor like this for anybody." He said, turning on his heel to look at Gai once he reached the training spot. "My training will be harsh, but if you survive, there won't be a damn fire breather in this whole village that won't envy your skills."

Gai's eyes lit up. "I'm ready Sensei! What do you need me to do? Should I warm up first? I normally do 500 push-ups and sit-ups before I start my training."

Kinji just stared at the boy. "That's you're warm up?" He asked.

Gai stuttered nervously. He was trying so very hard to impress this man. "Is that not enough? I could do 1000 instead." He offered.

_This kid is flippin' weird._ Kinji thought. He had never met a student that willing upped his own workout regiment.

"To save time. We'll skip your warm-up." He said, trying to act as if there was nothing abnormal about it. "From now on, do it before you come to my house for training."

"Hai!" Gai said.

"For starters, you need to learn how to perform nature transformation: basically, how to convert your chakra over to your elemental affinity." The man stood in the middle of the barren space and clasped his hands together. "Fire is the passion element. It is fierce and can take on many forms. It can be violent and rip through the air at harsh speeds and it can also be slow and wear away at the strongest of foundations." The man formed a few seals and then pulled his hands apart. He held one over the other, with the palms facing each other. He widened the gap slightly and a light began to form in the space between. "Fire is powerful, but it is also very hard to control. Before I will be able to teach you any proper techniques, you must be able to draw out your chakra in a controlled manner and maintain it like this…"

The light between his hands began to grow and take on a reddish glow. Before long, it took on the shape of a fiery ball that seemed to hover between the man's hands. "If you cannot tame the fire within you, you will never control it. Fire users can take forever to get this art down, but if you want to learn any abilities from me, you had better learn fast. After all, you only have a month."

With that, Kinji forced his hands forward, causing the ball of fire to propel through the air. It blasted against the cement wall across the lot and left a dark charred mark behind.

_Cool! _Gai thought to himself. He ran over to his teacher's side and copied the seals he had seen him do. He pulled his hands apart and concentrated on bringing his chakra out between them.

"Alright. Now remember, fires always have a beginning. While some grow so fast, it can hard to believe they have a source, they all do. Concentrate on getting the spark formed and grow it from there. If you get good at it, you will be able to draw it out faster."

"Hai!" Gai said. He closed his eyes and attempted to envision the ball forming in between his hands. He opened his eyes again and noticed the small light starting to take form. He gritted his teeth and gradually brought more chakra to his hands, trying to grow the light between them.

"Good…good. Keep it up." Kinji said. He had to admit, he hadn't expected him to even manage a spark off the bat.

Hearing his sensei's encouragement, Gai pressed on. The light began to grow slowly in his hands and even took on the red glow he had seen before. Gai felt a little giddy with how well things were going. That is…until the fire suddenly expanded far faster than he had predicted and set the sleeves of his suit ablaze.

"Yeow!" He cried and instinctively ran for the only source of water nearby.

SPLASH

Eventually he resurfaced and gave Kinji a sheepish look.

The man sighed and scratched his head. "We'll it's not the worst I've ever seen."

"Thank you Sensei!" Gai said, eyes beaming with joy.

"Don't look too far into it…and get out of the damn pond!" The man snapped.

Gai scuffled his way out of the water and back to his teacher. The man seemed to be thinking things over.

"We'll now. You didn't do terrible, but you still didn't get it. We need to find a way to help you improve faster." He said, scratching his beard. "Let's think, you got better at answering questions when I punched you…" The man's eyes lit up with a revelation. "So maybe violence is the key to your success!"

_Oh Crap. _Gai thought.

"Yes. Let's give that a try. Every time you mess up, there will be a consequence for it. So you'd better not mess up anymore." The man said, a little too cheerfully for Gai's liking.

"But Sensei…that just doesn't seem logical." Gai argued.

"Don't question me!" The man shouted, high kicking Gai square in the gut and sending him toppling into a rose bush. "And get out of my rose bushes. You're going to kill them if you keep thrashing around in them like that!"

The week continued on pretty much the same. Gai would perform his warm-up before going to Kinji's and then spend the day attempting to summon fire. He would fail repeatedly and get knocked or thrown into the pond, a tree or an arbitrary bush. Kinji actually started to get better with his aim, sending Gai flying into the pond more often than not, as he started to realize a Genin on fire was doing serious damage to his azaleas. Gai had even taken to attempting the technique at home in the evenings, but his mom had quickly sent him off to the training field when one of his faulty fireballs had nearly caught the house on fire.

One night after training, Gai returned home exhausted. He casually wandered in the front door, giving his mother a wave as he walked past the kitchen. She turned to greet him and nearly dropped the glass she had been cleaning when she saw the sight of him. Most of his suit was singed and there were some clear second-degree burns around his hands.

"Gai-kun, you get back here right now!" She shouted.

Gai froze in mid step and without question, returned to the kitchen.

"What on earth have you been doing?" She cried.

He looked up at her with a smile. "Training." He said, but winced a little as the skin around the edge of his face began to sting.

His mother ran to the cupboard and immediately pulled out burn ointments and bandages. "Honestly Gai, I'm not sure this training is worth it." She said.

"Please don't worry mom." He said. "It's really not that bad. I'm sort of getting used to it. It hurt a lot at first, but the more I practice, the less it hurts."

"But look at all these burns!" She said, tending to another wound on his face. "Even your suit is a damaged!"

"Yeah." He smiled again. "It's okay though, I made lots of copies of it using your sewing kit."

His mother gave him a look. "So THAT'S where all my green fabric went."

"Sorry, I'll buy you more." He said.

"Don't worry about it. Just…just try to be more careful. A mother's heart can only take so much." She said.

"Don't worry mom. I'll make it through this. After all, you're the lucky mother of the great Maito Gai!" He said.

His mother gave a gentle smile. "Yes…I suppose I am." She replied.

Despite the harsh training, Gai returned everyday, much to Kinji's surprise. Despite the pain, Gai refused to give up. He'd put himself through worse…well, he'd never kicked himself into a tree before, but that's a minor detail. Still, this man wouldn't teach him any techniques until he mastered this training, and if he wanted to be taken seriously by his team and everyone else, he wouldn't let this guy scare him away.

It was finally the end of the week and Gai was once again standing in the middle of the barren section of the backyard, looking a little worse for the wear, with his hands poised. Kinji stood patiently by his side. "Alright. Begin!" He ordered.

Gai began to summon the chakra to his hands.

_All fires have a source_

_All sources are a beginning_

_Fires grows_

_Grow…grow…grow…_

Gai clenched his eyes tight, picturing the small sphere of light in his mind. He began to add to it, creating more colors and increasing the size. He could now see the distinct features of the fire in his mind and began to draw more chakra to his hands. He didn't bother opening his eyes as he'd gotten used to the timing of this exercise. Any second now, he was going to be tossed, kicked or punched into the pond.

"Dammit boy, open your eyes!" The man yelled.

Gai cautiously opened one eye, and then shot them both open wide as he looked at the site before him. Sure enough, there was a glowing red ball hovering between his hands. It wasn't as big or impressive as the one Kinji had demonstrated, but it was still there…and it wasn't blowing up.

"We'll I'll be damned. You actually did it." Kinji said, scratching his head in surprise.

Gai couldn't contain his pride. "I mastered a technique that should have taken a year to do!" He cheered. He wondered if the elite Hatake Kakashi or Hyuuga Koji had even managed to do something like this.

"We'll actually; I said that it takes SOME people a year. Those are normally the stupid ones. On average it actually takes about---" but Gai wasn't listening. Instead, he was hopping and dancing around in celebration.

"I did it! I'm so cool! I'm so awesome! Yes! Yes! Yes!" He shouted.

"Gai! You're still holding onto the fireba—" but before he could finish his sentence, Gai threw his hands forward, sending the flaming projectile into a nearby topiary. Gai turned pale and glanced over at his teacher. The look in the man's eyes told Gai exactly what to do.

"That was a prized topiary!" The man yelled. Gai ran like a mad beast and threw himself into the pond. Just before another fireball went whizzing overtop of him. "Get out of the damn pond you coward!"

"Grandpa!" Haru yelled from the back door. "Kyo-sensei is here to speak with you."

"Your academy teacher? What have you done now Haru?" The man said, sounding even more irritated.

"Nothing Grandpa! I'm a good student honest!" Haru said.

"We'll then, be a good boy and get his idiot in the pond a drink. I'll be right in." He said. Kinji grabbed a nearby bucket and scooped up some water from the pond to toss on the flaming topiary. "You seem to have a great deal of luck Mr. Maito." He said to the pond before dousing the topiary and heading into the house.

Once the coast was clear, Gai surfaced from the pond and pulled himself out. He gave his head and good shake to remove some of the water before walking to the back step where Haru was waiting for him with a drink. Gai took the glass from him and drank it down quickly. He gave out a loud sigh. "Thank you Haru-kun." He said.

The boy gave him a smile. "No problem. That was actually pretty cool ya know? I've never seen anyone light Granddad's plants on fire and live."

"I guess I really am lucky then." Gai laughed nervously.

"I'm kind of hoping I'll be a fire user when I get older too. That way I can get Granddad to teach me all of his techniques as well. They really are cool."

"Is that so?" Gai asked.

"Well, for fire they are. I think I like Misaki-sama's techniques better though. I dunno. Maybe I can be both!" Haru said excitedly.

Gai simply smiled back at him.

"Oi! There's someone at the door for you!" Kinji yelled from inside the house. The two boys looked at one another and then went inside. From the one end of the hall, Gai could clearly see Riko standing in the front door. "Riko-chan?" He asked as he walked over to her. "What are you doing here?"

Riko gave him a wave. "You mean you forgot what today is?" She asked. "I thought you'd be counting down the days." She looked him up and down. "You don't look so good."

Gai gave her smile and tried to laugh it off. "Just been training really hard." He said.

"He lit Granddad's bush on fire, so he was hiding in the pond." Haru piped up.

Gai gave the kid a curt knock on the head. "Quite you!" Gai snapped.

Riko decided it was best not to ask. "Anyways, today is the day they post our initial opponents for the finals. I had to go by here to get to the arena so I thought I'd make sure you go check."

Gai's eyes lit up with the realization. "Oh right! I did forget. We'll let's get going then." He grabbed his pack off the floor by the doorway and yelled down the hall. "Sensei! I need to go check on the postings for the finals. I will see you tomorrow!" He shouted.

"What? Oh, fine get going. But be here bright and early for training tomorrow." He ordered.

"I'll go with you too!" Haru shouted stepping out the door to follow. He nearly made it to the first step when he felt the collar of his shirt restricting him from going any further. "Not so fast mister." Kinji said, lifting him off the ground. "What's this I hear about you releasing rats in the school gardens while the girl's were doing flower arrangement class?"

The boy's eyes went wide. "uhhhh."

Gai gave him a sympathetic look. "Good luck Haru-kun. I have to go now."

"Wait!" Haru cried. "Don't leave me you traitor!"

Riko and Gai ran down the road leading towards the areas. Gai looked over at his teammate and could not help but notice that she was running with ease. "Riko, did you take the leg weights off?" He asked.

She turned to him with a smile. "Actually, I think I've gotten used to them. I was meaning to ask you if I could get some of those bars back to add to the braces."

Gai's eyes lit up with pride. "Just what I would expect from my perfect flower!" He said.

Riko looked a little disturbed but kept on running. They finally reached the front of the arena where a group of Genin had already formed. Everyone was pushing to get to the front to read the match-ups. Riko and Gai pushed as best at they could to get closer to the forms on the wall. They finally found a pocket in the crowd and nearly crashed into their own teammate.

"Koji!" Riko cried in surprise.

"Hello." He replied and turned back to the charts with a frown. "I'd have to say, I think they got all the match-ups wrong."

"What do you mean?" Gai asked.

"I thought they'd match us up according to our reported skill level, but I'm starting to think they just put our names in a hat." He replied.

Gai and Riko peered over his shoulder and started to read off the assigned matches:

Uchiha Obito --- Kinutu Zori

Matarashi Anko --- Hyuuga Koji

Roga Yotaka --- Kakuyoku Yomi

Sarutobi Asuma --- Kienso Riko

The list continued with a number of matches, but all three set's of eyes stopped on the same pairing.

Maito Gai --- Uchiha Tekka

"Oh God." Riko said, placing a hand to her mouth as she read Gai's assigned opponent.

"What? What?" He asked, skimming the sheet. His eyes then landed on it as well. "Oh…" He said.

"Seriously." Koji sighed. "They should have put me up against him."

"What makes you think that I can't take him?" Gai demanded.

"Gai." Riko said, but her voice fell on deaf ears.

"Well that's the last time I act worried about your well being." Koji scoffed.

"I'm perfectly capable of taking him on. You just watch. I'll handle him better than you ever would have." Gai retorted.

"You won't even do the fight justice. You're just going to get yourself killed." Koji said.

"Stop it." Riko said quietly.

"I'll win that fight or so help me I'll climb the Hokage tower in my nothing but my boxers without using any chakra." He snapped back.

"There you go with those stupid promises of yours." Koji rolled his eyes.

"Stop it." Riko repeated a little louder.

"They're aren't stupid. They are the reason I'm doing do well." Gai shot back.

"You're still a far cry from beating anyone like him." Koji said.

"Stop it you two!" Riko screamed, causing the two boys to cease in their argument and stare at her. Once she calmed herself, she spoke again. "It doesn't matter who is up against him." She said. "The point is we are here. Let's not let petty grudges or assumptions about skill get in the way of that."

The boys nodded in response. The last thing they wanted to do was upset their teammate.

"I look forward to our battle." came a calm voice from inside the crowd. The group turned to find Tekka watching them from a short distance. "I would like to see how these rules of yours have helped you improve." He said.

Instinctively the boys stepped in front of Riko, creating a wall. Normally Riko would have been appreciative of the protective act, but being babied right now only seemed to annoy her. She pushed the boys apart and stood between them. "I won't be stuck looking at your backs anymore." She said. She then turned towards the dark-eyed boy in front of them. "The only thing that needs to be protected is everyone else from team 9."

END OF CHAPTER 14

Thanks for reading!!! ^_^


	15. Chapter 15 Paralyzer

Well I'm not paralyzed  
But, I seem to be struck by you  
I want to make you move  
Because you're standing still  
If your body matches  
What your eyes can do  
You'll probably move right through  
Me on my way to you

_Paralyzer_- Finger Eleven

The History of Konoha's Noble Green Beast

CHAPTER 15

"Can't be late. Can't be late!" Gai chanted to himself as he ran towards the training field. It really wasn't his fault he was late. He'd headed over to Kinji's house for training first thing this morning as usual only to find a note taped to the door indicating that practice had been moved to the B training grounds. It also said if he were late, the punishment would be severe. Gai pushed all the energy he could into his legs. He wasn't even sure what time it was anymore but he knew the less time he took, the less likely he would be killed. He finally reached the training field and spotted his teacher sitting on an old stump, looking irritated.

"Good morning Sensei!" Gai shouted, coming to a halt in front of him.

The man stood up calmly. "You're late." He said.

"I tried to get here as fast as I could Sensei, but your house is a long way from this training field..." Gai tried to explain, panting slightly.

"No excuses!" The man snapped, taking a swing at him. Gai instinctively sidestepped the attack and using the man's extended arm as leverage; he pushed himself up and over his teacher and landed behind him. The man blinked a few times and looked back at him a little surprised. "By the heavens, you actually have reflexes. It's a miracle!"

Gai's eyes lit up with joy at hearing his teacher's praise. "Thank you sensei!" He said, taking a respectful bow.

"Yet you leave yourself open!" The man shouted, kicking Gai in the hip and causing him to go flying. Gai cried out in surprise as he went rolling across the grass, landing flat on his back a few feet away from his teacher. He grunted a little in pain and lifted himself up off the ground. _Should have seen that coming_.

"Never relax until your opponent is either dead or incapacitated. That is how rookie Chuunins get themselves killed. I don't want to put all this time and energy into some blockhead that's just gonna go get himself skewered on his first real mission." The man growled.

"Gomen Sensei. Thank you for this lesson!" Gai said. He took another bow as a sign of respect, yet kept his head tilted up slightly so he could make sure he wasn't attacked again.

Kinji smirked a little. This kid seemed to be a glutton for punishment.

"Alright. Well now that you managed to make it here. It's time for today's lesson. You've managed to master your elemental control, now we're going to turn it into an attack." Kinji said, walking over to the stump he'd been occupying earlier. He pulled out a large sack that was overflowing with scrolls and books.

"This," he said tossing the bag over to Gai, "is everything you will ever need to know to perform basic fire-jutsu. You will start studying these in the evenings. Some techniques are easier than others are and some require a sort of…natural instinct to get them down. I will start you off with a basic technique today. As you progress, you will be given more techniques, so it all depends on how hard you work and how much you advance. I warn you though; if you want to be a respectable fire user, you are going to need to work twice as hard as you already are." He said.

"Yes Sensei!" Gai shouted.

"Good. Today we will start from where you left off yesterday, with the fireball you summoned. It is actually a very versatile technique. We'll start by getting you to summon the fireball and aim at specific targets while increasing your summoning speed. If you progress far enough, we will work on summoning multiple fireballs…and if you prove to actually have some talent, I'll train you to do one my personal favorites: The Divine Phoenix." Kinji smiled.

"The Divine Phoenix?"

"Trust me Gai. You manage to get as far as that technique and I'm sure you will have no problems in the finals." Kinji reassured.

"So that is your ultimate technique then…" Gai mused to himself.

The man let out a loud laugh. "What do you take yourself for Gai? You haven't advanced that fast! The Divine Phoenix is a C level technique. You'll need a few more years of training before you'll be able to do any ultimate techniques."

"I see…" Gai frowned.

"Oh stop your pouting. We only have a month for crying out loud! It's not as if you are going up against the Hokage or something. Stop moping and get over here before I drop kick you!" He ordered.

"Yes Sensei!" Gai shouted and ran over to his teacher's side.

"Good. Now let's start with conjuring that fireball again." The man said, stretching out his hands.

"Wait just a second." Gai said, realizing he had forgotten something.

The man rolled his eyes. "What is it now?" He asked. He so hated it when people interrupted him.

"I just need to make some preparations." Gai explained, taking a few steps back.

"Preparations?" The man asked raising his eyebrow with interest.

"It will only take a moment." Gai assured him. He formed the seals for Boar, Dog, Bird, Monkey, and Ram and slammed his hand to the ground. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

Instantly his red turtle companion appeared. "What's up?" Babarusu asked.

"You have a summon?" Kinji asked a bit surprised. _Seems a little young for that sort of thing_.

"Hai! Babarusu, this is Kinji-sensei." Gai said, pointing over to his teacher.

"Nice to meet you." The turtle said, lifting one of his front feet as if he was trying to wave.

"Nice to meet you as well…Gai, why did you summon this turtle?" Kinji asked.

Gai scratched his head and laughed slightly. "Just a precaution." He said. He then leaned over to Babarusu. "If I catch on fire…please put me out. You've been working on your Mizu no Kenjū right?"

The turtle gave a nod. "Oh, yeah. I've got that technique down no problem. Not sure why you'd be on fire though, but I'm here if you need it."

Kinji tented his brow. "Gai, you already have control of your fire summoning technique, you shouldn't catch yourself on fire anymore."

_It's not MY fireballs I'm worried about._

"Anyways, Kinji-sensei. I found out yesterday who my first opponent is for the finals. I'm very excited about it." Gai said.

"Oh and why is that?" He asked.

"Because I will be going up against an Uchiha. To get to take on such a strong opponent right away is awesome!" Gai explained.

The man's eyes lit up with a fiery glow. "An Uchiha you say?" He mused.

"Yes, and he's strong. If I can beat him, I'm sure to make the other Konoha Genin jealous of my skills!" He cheered.

"Pfft. Those fire breathers are nothing!" Kinji scoffed. "No better than a bunch of carnival performers."

Gai was taken aback by his teacher's words. "Really Sensei? What about the Gōkakyu no Jutsu? I've seen members of the police force use it before and it looks pretty powerful. I heard that the Gōkakyu no Jutsu is a symbol of becoming a man in that clan."

"Ha!" Kinji said. "That technique is useless. First, it takes up way to much chakra for the damage it can do. Second, it requires you to stand still for too long to perform, leaving you vulnerable to an attack." Kinji took a few steps away from Gai and preformed a series of seals so fast that Gai's eyes could not keep up. "Step back kiddo, I'll show you the proper way to use fire as a short range attack."

Gai didn't question his sensei and took a few steps back. The man placed his fist inside his other open palm. Gai could have sworn for a second that he saw actual fire dancing in the man's eyes. "Katon: Meido Ryuujin!" He called out.

The ground began a shake slightly beneath Gai's feet and the earth around his teacher started to glow. The transition was fast, but had he not seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn't have believed it. A snake-like form rose out of the glowing red earth and wrapped itself around his teacher like a protective coat. As Gai looked more carefully, he could see the distinct features of a dragon. Its eyes glowed like the depths of hell itself. The dragon opened its mouth and released a fire attack that Gai had never seen. It was much larger than the Gōkakyu no Jutsu he had seen the Uchiha clan use before. What was really interesting about it was the fact that the dragon-like creature seemed to be shielding Kinji with his body while he attacked. As quick as it had came, the attack vanished leaving only Gai, Kinji and a whole bunch of burnt grass.

"So how about it?" Kinji asked. "You want to run off and join the fire breathers or do you want to learn some serious jutsu?" He asked.

Gai was now wound up like a top. He lunged at his teacher. "Please Sensei! Teach me that technique! Teach met that one! I want to know how to use the Meido Ryuujin! Please Sensei!"

"Hey! Hey! Get off me! You still need to learn your other techniques first!"

_______

"Again!" Misaki ordered.

Koji nodded and held his hands up in an x-formation with the palms facing out. He closed his eyes and carefully concentrated on the steel posts around him. He released a bit of chakra and managed to strike the first metal post with little effort. The lightning arched from his hand to the steel rod giving off a violent crackling noise. He then turned his attention to the next steel post, which was sitting closer to some surrounding posts. He released again and managed to hit his target. The next one was even closer to the surrounding posts. He took a deep breath and released another electrical burst, but this time it was too much and the charge began to jump violently from one steel rod to the next.

"Dammit!" he cursed, dropping down for cover to avoid being hit with his own attack.

Once the noise subsided, Koji looked up from his position on the ground at his approaching teacher. "We'll you're getting better. Moving the posts in closer has made accuracy a bit more challenging for you. Nevertheless, as expected from the elite Hyuuga clan, you are progressing at a better than predicted rate. You are looking a little tired though. Come take a seat and we'll approach the training again in a moment." Misaki said, motioning to a welcoming looking green space under a shady tree.

Koji nodded and joined his teacher. He gladly took the water and rice ball she held out to him and ate it in peaceful silence. He rather liked training alone with Misaki. It was so much quieter without Gai always there challenging him to weird competitions.

In his time alone with Misaki, he'd managed to master a number of basic lightning techniques, but lately, Misaki has been taking this strange approach to his training by having him attempt to hit specific metal posts at close range without accidentally hitting the other surrounding posts. It was the annoying task he'd ever had to do and to him seemed like a move in the opposite direction, but Misaki assured him, the skill he would gain from this would be worthwhile.

Koji noticed Misaki fiddling out of the corner of his eye and turned his head. Sure enough, she was at it again with her beading. She always seemed to be making bracelets on their breaks, sometimes even while he was training. Often after training, she would take them into the village and give them to children or vendors on the way home. She said it was a sort of good Karma thing she had started a long time ago. He then spotted another familiar item in her lap. The one bracelet she never gave away. It wasn't particularly intricate or interesting. It contained black, silver and red beads and just sat in her lap while she worked. Normally, Koji wouldn't even pay interest to something like that, but being alone with his teacher gave him more time to speculate on such things and the curiosity finally got to him.

"Misaki-sensei?"

"Hai?" She replied as she continued to work.

"Why do you keep that bracelet?" He asked. "You give away all the others I've seen you make."

Misaki paused in her work and looked down at the item in question. She picked it up and slid her fingers between the beads. "Because it is special." She replied.

"It doesn't look that special." He remarked, eying the bracelet a little more carefully just in case he'd missed something.

Misaki grinned. "I gave it away once." She said, half staring at the bracelet, half staring off into space.

"Really? Why do you have it now then?" He asked.

There was a brief pause, yet the expression on Misaki's face never changed. "He didn't want it anymore." She replied matter o' factly.

"Pfft. What kind of moron doesn't keep a gift from a pretty girl?" He said.

"You think I'm pretty?" She said, turning and grinning at him.

"We'll yes…I mean…no...That is…" Koji said, blushing furiously. He was glad no one else was around to hear him say that. Calling your squad leader pretty was just about as bad as accidentally calling your academy teacher mom or dad.

Misaki laughed. "I'm just teasing you." She said, patting him on the head. "No, the man I gave this to was not a moron. He was actually one of the most brilliant people to ever live in Konoha."

"Really? Who?" Koji asked.

She turned to him with a smile. "Konoha's White Fang." She replied.

_So THAT'S why she got angry when I…_

"Kakashi's dad?" Koji double-checked.

"That's the one." She said.

"You were friends with that guy?" Koji asked a little surprised.

"Is there something wrong with that?" She asked.

"I guess not…" He said, squirming with discomfort. "So…why didn't he want the bracelet anymore?" Koji asked.

It was subtle, but Koji definitely noticed Misaki's eyes sadden a little. "That's a bit of a complicated story. You're probably too young to hear it." She said. Misaki stood up, tucked the bracelet back into her pocket and brushed herself off. "Koji…what have you been told about the White Fang?" She asked, not daring to look back at her student, as she knew the words he would say would inevitably be hurtful to her ears.

"Well, to be honest, I've been told he was a failure that cost the village a great deal." He said.

"And what do you think of that?" She asked.

"We'll…I can only go by what I am told right?" Koji shrugged.

"That's a very dangerous way to think Koji-kun." Misaki said. "Village gossip is a dangerous and cruel thing. It can break even the strongest of people. I'd like to think I hold the other side of that man's story."

"The other side?" Koji asked.

Misaki looked back at her student with eyes on the verge of tears. "There was no one as brilliant or as kind as Hatake Sakumo. His death…was probably one of the greatest losses this village has ever experienced."

Koji remained quiet since he was unsure how to reply.

"Well then." Misaki said, performing a mood swing 180 and turning back to her student with a smile. "How about we get back to training now?"

Koji stood silently and joined his teacher by the steel posts planted in the ground. As curious as he was about the story Misaki had, he knew there was no way she would tell him…and he probably didn't have a right to it anyways.

_________________

The month passed quickly for all the young Konoha ninjas. Everyday they vigilantly trained, trying to prepare themselves for all possible obstacles. Even with all their hard work though, very few slept well the night before the exams.

It was now early morning on the day of the tournament. Riko, Koji and Misaki were sitting quietly in a teahouse just outside of the arena, attempting to devise strategies for their opponents while they waited for their other teammate to arrive.

"So there is nothing else you can tell me?" Riko asked, running her finger along the rim of her cup.

"Sorry." Koji replied, taking another leisurely sip from his tea.

"We'll that wasn't much help." She sighed, her shoulders dropping a little with disappointment.

"We'll you weren't much help either with Anko." He replied.

"I think you two just need to face the fact that you haven't had time to see your friends lately. You're just going to have to go into the fight cautiously and do your best." Misaki said, as she pulled at another strand of Riko's hair from behind and tied another piece of purple fabric into it.

"It would be nice to have a little bit of an advantage though." Riko said, adjusting her head slightly to allow her teacher better access to her hair.

"How much longer until the first match?" Koji asked.

Misaki turned her head up to the side to look at the clock. "About another 20 minutes. We should really get going to the stands soon."

"But we said we would meet Gai here." Riko said.

"I really thought he would have been here before us. It's not like him to be late. Wonder what happened to him." Misaki mused.

"I'm right here Misaki-sensei!" The ever-cheerful Gai shouted from the entrance to the teahouse. The teahouse owner gave him a dirty look as he walked by, as he was not accustomed to such loud patrons. "Sorry I'm late. Kinji-sensei wanted to review a few last minute things this morning before the tournament started." He looked back at the older man following behind him.

Koji looked the man up and down casually. _This is who has been training Gai? Where did Misaki-sensei dig up this old fossil?_

"Good morning Storm Cloud." Kinji waved politely.

"Good morning Kinji-sempai." Misaki smiled, tying off the last strand of fabric in Riko's hair. "There you go Riko. All done!"

"Thank you Sensei." She said, standing up from her seat. She glanced over to her two teammates. "How does it look?" She asked.

"You look as youthful and beautiful as the second bloom of the lotus flower!" Gai said, eyes beaming. Riko paled a little at Gai's over enthusiasm.

"Geeze you're corny Gai." Koji sighed. "Can we please get to the stadium now? I'd like to see the match-up before mine if possible."

"Good idea. Now that everyone is finally here we can go." Misaki said, heading towards the door after dropping some money on the table to cover their drinks.

"Yosh! Time to kick some butt! " Gai cheered.

"How can you still have that much energy after the drills we did this morning?" Kinji half sighed as he followed the group out of the teahouse.

"That is the power of youth Sensei." Gai explained, with a big beaming smile.

"Is that word like a tick for you or something?" Kinji asked.

"What do you mean?" Gai asked, giving him a dubious look.

"Never mind." The old man replied, shaking his head.

Misaki casually reached into her pocket, pulled out another one of her half completed necklaces, and went about adding more beads to it from her pocket. She continued chatting as she worked. "I can't believe how many teams made it through this year. This tournament is going to be a long one."

"That's why they had to adjust the rules this year." Kinji added. "Mind you, I think they should have just knocked some of the teams out before hand and saved themselves the headache."

"They must be really eager to recruit more Chuunins." She replied.

"I was meaning to ask about the tournament." Gai said, tenting his brow as he and his team stepped through the main entrance to the arena. "If you lose a fight you are eliminated, but if you win, you might not get to move on as well?"

"It's a little more complicated than that Gai." Riko said sweetly. "You see, the Hokage and a group of select judges will be watching each of the fights. If they see someone in a fight that demonstrates the ability to be a Chuunin, they won't waste time, moving them on and will just give them the rank."

"Or, if they show signs that they couldn't possibly be a Chuunin, even though they won, they'll be kicked out." Koji added.

Riko nodded. "The only reason they would move you on is if they weren't sure if you were ready. It's to try and save time."

By this time, they had arrived up to the spectator's area in the stadium. All the Genin from Konoha were sitting together in the first few rows of one section. At the back of the seating area, there was a large railing, which many of the Jonin teachers were leaning on. Misaki spotted her friend and gave him a wave.

"There you all are. I thought you were going to miss the first match-up for a second." Minato smiled over at the group of new arrivals.

"We'd never miss such an important day." Gai demanded.

"I don't doubt it for a second." Minato replied. "Why don't you go join the others before it gets too crowded down in the seating area?"

Misaki turned to her students. "Good luck you three. Today should be really interesting." She said.

The students gave a nod and headed down into the stands. With a bit of shuffling around, the three managed to squeeze into the seating with their classmates. Riko gave a quick wave to her friends as Gai looked around excitedly. Koji scanned the seats for all his friends and noticed one missing. "Where's Obito?" Koji asked Asuma.

Asuma pointed down into the arena. "He's already down on the field. He's the first competitor, remember?"

Koji turned and looked over the railing and sure enough, there he was, stretching out his neck and standing across from a rather rough looking Grass ninja.

"I hope he'll be okay." Rin said, racking her knuckles together in worry.

"Don't worry so much Rin, Obito is a though kid. He'll be fine." Asuma said, flipping the toothpick in his mouth from one corner to the other.

"At least he doesn't have to go up against someone from Konoha. This person doesn't know any of his abilities." Koji said, sounding a tad jealous.

"But that also means Obito doesn't know any of HIS abilities either." Kakashi cut in. Many of the young ninjas looked back in surprise at the presence of the silver haired ninja. He sat casually a few rows back, with a lazy look on his face.

"That's true. I guess each situation has its advantages." Koji said, turning back to the field.

"I wish they'd just hurry up. When's it going to be MY turn?" Gai whined.

"You're not even slotted till near the end you moron." Koji said.

Gai turned to his teammate with a glare. "If they get through it faster I will get to go sooner."

"Gai, you are like, the last match-up. You just need to be patient." Riko explained.

"Why did they have to put me near the end?" He continued to whine.

"There is plenty of time for you to die later." Koji replied with a smirk.

"Oh please don't start." Riko moaned.

"What are you trying to say eh?" Gai said, glaring over at his teammate.

"Shhh. Shut, up. The match is starting!" Anko hissed.

Everyone turned back to the field as the announcer went through the rules and format for the tournament. Once everything was set, the fight was on. The match-up was fairly even but with a little effort, Obito managed to take down the grass ninja and knock him unconscious.

"And the winner is, Uchiha Obito!" The announcer said.

There was a loud cheer from the stands as the local villagers shouted out in support of their own ninja.

"See Rin, I told you there was nothing to worry about." Asuma said, ginning back at the girl behind him. Rin nodded in return.

"Amazing. It appears that my cousin isn't a complete waste of space." Tekka mused.

"Who asked for your opinion?" Asuma sneered.

Koji stood up and began to head for the stairs. "Looks like I'm up." He said casually, though on the inside, his blood was beginning to race. He'd waited so long to be in the Chuunin exams, and here he was in the finals!

"Good luck Koji-kun." Riko said.

"I won't need it with such a weak opponent." He replied and continued up the stairs.

Anko overheard his words and frowned. "Don't count me out yet." She shouted after him. She quickly ran up the stairs towards the exit. As she reached the top landing, she spotted her teacher, leaning on the railing. He gave her a smile.

"I'll make you proud today Sensei!" She said.

Orochimaru gave her a nod. "I'm sure you will Anko."

The little girl ran off to the exit to join Koji on the field. Orochimaru leaned a little further on the railing and looked over at Misaki further down the line. "I'm excited to see what you've done with that young boy Misaki-chan. I hope he proves to be a good opponent for my Anko." He looked back towards the field with a slightly twisted smile on his face. "It would be a shame if they weren't an even match up. Students getting killed during the exams tend to really bring down the mood."

"Stop trying to stir things up Orochimaru." Minato warned, before Misaki could retaliate.

Koji's fight was with Anko, there was no need for petty fighting in the stands.

"I'm just trying to have a conversation with Misaki-chan, Minato-kun." Orochimaru shrugged.

"It's aright Minato." Misaki said. "I have faith in my student. He'll be fine. Let the snake say whatever he wants."

"Ooooh. Feisty today." Orochimaru chuckled.

"Round 2." The announcer said. "Hyuuga Koji versus Matarashi Anko. The rules are as they were before. If at any point I have to interject, the battle is over. Got it?"

The two students nodded and took their initial stance. "Very well." The man said, leaping back. "Begin!"

Without hesitation, Koji activated his Byakugan. He didn't really see Anko as much of a threat, but he wanted to end this quickly, and also test out some of his new skills before he had to face any real competition.

Anko reached into her pouch and pulled out a kunai. She ran her tongue over the blade slowly with a smile on her face. "This is going to be fun." She said.

"Do you even know where that thing has been?" Koji commented.

"Not really, but I know where it's going." Anko said, lunging forward. "Right into your stomach!"

Koji evaded the attack and landed a hard hit into Anko's side, causing her to roll. "I'm not sure what to crush first…your ego or your rib cage." He said, idly tossing her to the ground.

Anko let out a loud grunt and quickly pulled herself back up to her feet. She wiped the dirt off her face and took a defensive position. This boy's reflexes were fast. Just out right attacking him was not going to work.

"This fight ought to be quick." Asuma mused.

"Yeah, if Anko keeps up with that kind of sloppy foot work, she's just going to make herself look stupid." Obito added.

"Come on Anko." Rin half whispered to herself. "You can do it."

Riko peered back at the Rin a few rows behind her and then back to the field. Inside she really wasn't sure who to root for. Anko was her friend…but Koji was her teammate. She glanced over at Gai who was now standing up and leaning over the railing. She wasn't surprised with how eager he was to see this fight. She was very aware of their little rivalry. Her life would probably be a whole lot less stressful if it weren't for their rivalry.

Gai was also having some conflicting emotions. His competitive nature wanted to see Koji lose, so he would be able to lord it over him but part of him wanted to see him win. The thought of getting a match-up against Koji in the finals was a little exciting.

Anko lunged forward again. This time she was more cautious in her approach and managed to land a few hits. However, he was still too fast for her and managed to sweep kick her to the ground. Anko landed with a hard thud.

"This is really irritating Anko." Koji said, slowly approaching her. "I need a decent fight if I'm going to show those judges I'm worth passing. There is no way they'll see my true skills just fighting you like this."

Koji formed a few quick seals with his hands. "I'm not going to use my best techniques on you, but I'll still give you the privilege of seeing what I can do." His hands began to snap and crackle ever so slightly, producing a faint glow to them. "I'll make it quick."

Anko scoffed at him, leaping to her feet. "Bring it on loser. I can't stand you snobby upper class kids."

Koji took the initiative this time and moved in for the attack. Instinctively Anko blocked with her hands and prevented him from striking her. She sensed an odd sensation in her hands upon touching him, but decided to ignore it. Instead, she took the opportunity to land her own hit into his rib cage, which was successful. Koji stepped back a few feet and held onto his side. He hadn't been ready for her counter, likely from not taking her seriously.

Anko pulled another kunai from her belt and tossed in his direction. Koji sidestepped the kunai and rushed forward again. This time he landed a few more hits on her shoulder and hip. Anko quickly grabbed another kunai from her waist belt and attempted to pierce his abdomen with it but he was too quick and grabbed her by the wrist. He leaned in close and whispered. "Time for you to experience Souhou no Kami." He said. He then used the tips of the fingers on his free hand and delicately tapped her a few times on her side and spine.

Anko quickly twisted her arm free and leapt back. She began to laugh. "That's it?" She asked. "That's your technique? You're gonna poke me to death?"

The boy didn't seem even slightly phased. "You talk too much." He said. "Just come at me again."

Anko did as he asked; she lunged forward at him again. This time she decided on a different approach and slid in on her heel, trying to taking him out from underneath. Koji leapt over her and lifted his leg up high. He brought his heel hurtling down towards her but she managed to roll out of the way and get back onto her feet. Koji didn't hesitate and lunged forward with an uppercut. Anko managed to block it, but this time things were odd. She felt as if, her blocks were taking more effort than usual. Certainly, they had been fighting for a while, but there was no way she should be this tired already.

Before Anko could devise a reason for her exhaustion, she felt herself being hurtled across the field, as Koji, picked her up by the scruff of her uniform and tossed her away.

"Something's wrong with Anko." Riko commented.

"What do you mean?" Gai asked, looking over at his teammate and then out into the field. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary to him. She was still losing like before.

"No, Riko is right, something's different." Asuma said.

"It's almost like she's LETTING him hit her now." Obito added in.

"Letting him?" Gai repeated.

"You haven't noticed how slow her movements have gotten?" Riko asked.

Gai looked back out to the field again. This time he did notice it. It was as if Anko was trudging through mud. Every step was taking her more and more effort. Her swings were uncoordinated and she wasn't blocking Koji's attacks nearly as well. "Maybe she's just tired." He said.

"There is no way. Out of all the girls from our class, Anko had the best stamina. They haven't been going nearly long enough for her to look this tired." Riko said.

Orochimaru frowned from his position on the railing. Misaki always tried her best to be polite, but she just had to say something. "My my, Orochimaru, you're student is looking a little tired already. Did you ever make her run laps?"

Orochimaru turned to the woman on the railing. "So this is your boy's technique Misaki? Very subtle."

"What exactly did he do?" Minato asked, squinting down at the fight.

"I thought you would have already figured it out Minato." Misaki said. "I told you he was a lightning type. He also has that gentle fist technique from his clan. I just found a way to draw out the best from both worlds." She shrugged.

"I see…" Minato said. "So he's paralyzing her."

"Paralyzing her?" Rin repeated, overhearing the Jonins talking.

"It's an advanced lightning technique. Many lightning types go for brute force and try to send out as big of a charge as possible when they attack, however, there is also another way to use lightning and that is to use it at a microscopic level." Minato explained.

Rin turned back to the combat arena. "So, when he touched her side before with that charge on his hands…"

"He paralyzed part of her nervous system." Asuma chimed in. "And every hit since then too."

"Sort of." Misaki said. "More liked stunned it. If he'd aimed to fully paralyze her, she wouldn't be able to move."

"You mean he's capable of doing both? To have such precision already…" Minato awed.

"He is a Hyuuga." She replied. On the outside, Misaki was quite pleased with Koji's performance, but on the inside, she was starting to worry. She had hoped he would just paralyze Anko and win the fight, but he was dragging it out. It was rather unsportsmanlike and would not go over well with the judges if he kept it up.

Gai felt his hot blood starting to boil again. For Koji to have advanced so far so fast…it really irritated him. He had been hoping to surpass his teammate by this time with how hard he had been working.

Anko lunged forward again, but Koji blocked her easily and landed a few more taps along her arms. Anko could feel the tingling sensation up to her shoulders. Her hands now felt like they were asleep. She didn't fully understand what was going on but she knew it wasn't good. Her body was failing her more by the second. She stumbled away from her opponent and fumbled with her waist pouch for another kunai. She pulled one out and tossed it, but Koji didn't even have to move, her aim was so poor. Finally, her legs couldn't take it anymore and she fell to the ground. She rested on her knees panting with her head down. She slowly raised it as Koji's shadow fell over her. She looked up into those silent white eyes.

"This fight is over." He said.

Koji raised the power level in his hands. They began to chirp and spark more violently. Anko did her best not to show fear and swallowed back the words she wanted to speak.

"That's enough." A voice boomed.

Koji looked over at the moderator on the edge of the field approaching quickly. "The winner is clear. There is no need to continue." He said.

Koji nodded and the light dissipated from his hands. He looked down at the girl on her knees before him. "You should have just quit before we started. There was no way this would be an even match." He said.

He then turned on his heel to walk away. Anko was exhausted, her thoughts were muddled, but her anger still raged at his words. She wouldn't let someone humiliate her in front of her sensei and then talk to her like that. With whatever strength she had left, she lifted her tired arms and formed the seals she needed for her secret technique. Her sensei might get mad, but maybe if the judges saw this technique they might consider passing her. "Sen'eijashu" She called out.

Unaware of the approaching attack, Koji continued to walk away from Anko. Within an instant, the snakes lunged out of Anko's sleeves and wrapped themselves around Koji's legs. Koji looked down in surprise, but before he could retaliate, he felt the snakes pierce the flesh of his calve muscles. The snakes poured their hot venom into the boy's legs without mercy. Koji could feel the heat rising up his legs and quickly reached down to pry them away but to no avail. Within moments he could feel the effects of the poison kicking in. His body felt hot and cold at the same time. His skin started to tingle and the world began to blur. Breathing was becoming a challenge and suddnely, everything went black.

The Konoha ninjas stared in horror from the grandstands as Koji fell like a wet sack to the ground.

"Koji!" Riko and Gai shouted out, now both up to the edge of the railing.

Misaki turned sharp in the direction of the pale skinned man on the railing. "I can't believe you would teach her such a terrible technique!" She said.

"You should spend less time chatting with me and take care of your student." Orochimaru replied. "Anko's poisons are pretty advanced. Koji is liable to die from it."

Without another thought, Misaki ran down the stairs to the railing and lepted off the edge into the field.

"You make me sick Orochimaru." Minato said, turning away from the man in disgust.

"Anko has got a good spark about her. I guess you just can't appreciate it." Orochimaru replied.

Gai and Riko watched their teacher run off into the field towards their teammate. Without another word, they both spun on their heels and headed up the stairs towards the exit. Before they could make it across the top landing though, a big arm wrapped around each of them hodling them in place. "You two are best to stay here." Minato said.

"But Minato-sensei! Koji is hurt!" Riko demanded.

"All the more reason you should stay here." Minato said. "Misaki and the medical squad are down there now." He said, turning the two students around to look at the field.

Sure enough, the moderator had severed the snake heads and was now reaming little Anko out for her behavior. Misaki was cradling Koji in her arms while a medical ninja did a full body scan. The look in Misaki's eyes said that things were not good.

Gai turned back to Minato. "Minato-sensei, we really need to make sure he's okay."

"If you go down their right now, you will only be getting in the way." Minato said. "I know it's hard to take in, but injuries are part of the Chuunin exams. There have even been deaths. It's an unfortunate part of the process. I know it's not easy to handle." Minato leaned back so he could better look the two students in the eye. "You will be the most help for your teammate if you stay here and let the medical team look after him. You have your own fights to focus, remember?"

The two students glanced at one another and then back at the blonde-haired man. This whole situation was just so stressful and confusing. Koji was strong…it should have just ended with his win, but now he was a crumpled up pale mess on the verge of death.

Riko balled her hands up into fists and took a deep breath. "Gai." She said.

Her teammate looked over at her. "What is it?"

"We…we need to win now. Not just for ourselves, but for the rest of our team. Misaki expects the best from us." She said.

Gai nodded silently as he watched the medical ninjas take Koji from Misaki's arms and run off the field towards the hospital. The moderator took a moment to reorganize himself and then called out to the audience. "Next match-up: Roga Yotaka versus Kakuyoku Yomi."

Riko and Gai slowly walked back down the steps towards theirs seats looking a little defeated. Riko could feel her nerves starting to jump wildly. She wanted to believe her fight would go well, but with the way things had ended in Koji's battle…she was actually terrified.

END CHAPTER 15

Thanks for reading. Always happy to hear you thoughts :-)


	16. Chapter 16 The Flower

'Cause it makes me that much stronger  
Makes me work a little bit harder  
It makes me that much wiser  
So thanks for making me a fighter  
Made me learn a little bit faster  
Made my skin a little bit thicker  
Makes me that much smarter  
So thanks for making me a fighter.

_Fighter_- Christina Aguilera

The History of Konoha's Noble Green Beast

CHAPTER 16

"I've had it up to here with you Orochimaru!" the Hokage said, slamming his fists down on the arms of his chair. "Again and again you find ways to push the rules, and now you're even passing that bad influence onto your students."

Sarutobi stood up from his chair and took a long aggravated puff from his pipe as he paced. "Koji could have died from that little stunt of Anko's."

Misaki stood silently against the wall beside her friend Minato. The lounge they were in was a large spacious room with couches, tables and chairs littered about. It was an exclusive room on the top floor of the arena that only the examiners, Kages, and specially invited guests were allowed to enter. The room projected out into the stadium with a large balcony that all the examiners were perched upon watching the battle below as they took notes on their clipboards. Sarutobi had ordered Misaki and Orochimaru up to the lounge shortly after Koji and Anko's fight and Minato had tagged along with Misaki as moral support. As strong as he knew Misaki was, he also knew that her student being on the brink of death had likely unsettled her.

Koji had been rushed to the hospital for emergency treatment and Misaki not been allowed to follow. The doctors reassured her that he would be fine, but Misaki had her doubts. Koji had barely been breathing when she had passed him over to the medic ninja.

_I should have taught him to be more cautious. _She thought.

Minato looked over at his friend and noticed the troubled expression on her face. He carefully wrapped his arm around her shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze. The woman looked up at him slightly and gave a small smile at the thoughtful gesture.

"Hokage-sama. Please let me-" Orochimaru began to speak, but the Hokage would have none of it.

"Silence!" He snapped. "I hereby revoke your teaching permit with the academy. As of the end of today, you are no longer the leader of team 4. Your team will be disbanded and reassigned amongst other teams. Furthermore, Anko will be punished for her actions. For lashing out after the fight was called, she is hereby banned from taking the exams for two years. Hopefully she can take that time and learn from this incident."

Orochimaru looked a little irritated, but knew there was no arguing. "I understand Hokage-sama. Anko's actions were certainly uncalled for, mind you, had she poisoned him earlier in the fight, things may have turned out differently."

Minato felt Misaki start to pull forward slightly against his arm, but he immediately pulled her back against the wall and gave her shoulder a rub. "Just breathe." He said softly.

Orochimaru started to head for the door, but paused briefly as an idea came upon him. He turned around and took a few steps back into the room. "May I make one last request Sensei?" He asked.

Sarutobi looked over at his student with interest. "What is it?" He asked.

"Anko is clearly heading down a road that is not appropriate in this village. I would like another chance to mentor her if possible." He said.

"You expect me to just let you continue teaching her after what happened?" Sarutobi asked, crossing his arms over his chest, clearly skeptical of his student's intentions.

"Anko is obviously very receptive to my guidance; I just went wrong somewhere along the way with her. If I am given another chance, I will do my best to undo the damage I have done. Consider it my way of making amends." He replied.

Sarutobi scratched his chin and pondered the situation over.

Misaki's eyes widened as she realized the Hokage was hesitating on the subject. "Hokage-sama, you can't possibly be considering this." She exclaimed.

"I will allow it under one condition." He replied. "You will report to me on every outing you have with this girl. You are to document them in full and report in on any situation I request without notice. I want to ensure she gets the proper training she needs. If you are willing to meet these demands, I will allow you to continue mentoring Anko."

Orochimaru smiled broadly and took a bow. "Sarutobi-sensei. You are too kind. I will do as you ask." He said. He then turned around and started heading for the exit. He paused briefly again by the door and looked over at the aggravated woman being held in place by Minato. "I am sorry for you loss Misaki. Your boy showed a great deal of potential. Perhaps if he survives the poisoning he will pass next time." He said and slipped out the door.

Misaki finally pulled free from Minato's grip and stormed up to the Hokage. "You can't be serious sir! If you are just going to feed her to him, why don't you just slit her throat instead?"

"Misaki!" Minato called out to his infuriated friend, but she paid no attention to him.

The Hokage remained calm and took another drag from his pipe. "I understand your distrust in Orochimaru, Misaki, but you need to try and understand. He is my student and I have been watching him for a very long time. He is a troubled man, but in order to guide him down the right path, I need to show him I can trust him. I will keep a watchful eye on him during the process, but teaching that young girl may be one of the few ways left to lead him in the right direction. Anko will be okay, I promise."

"This isn't right." She whispered as she hung and shook her head. Misaki would never be able to fully accept this decision.

Sarutobi decided it was best to change the subject for now. "As for your student." He said, taking his seat in the lounge. "I was rather impressed by his fight. He demonstrates very advanced skills for someone his age." "However, he also demonstrated some rather childish behavior in dragging it out. Had he just paralyzed her and ended the fight, he very well might have avoided his trip to the hospital. I am afraid that with the amount we have seen there is no way to make a solid judgment on passing him and with the poisoning he has sustained, there is also no way he will be able to compete in the rest of the tournament. Therefore, your student will have to wait until the next Chuunin exams in order to pass."

Just as she had thought, his immature behavior had cost him the pass. Misaki sighed and gave a nod. "I understand sir."

Sarutobi smiled gently at the woman before him. He could see now that he had made the right decision in making Misaki a teacher. She was a passionate person, and it was clear that she was dedicated to these students. "Please Misaki, do not look so disappointed. You have done wonders with Koji and your other students; I see no reason why he could not pass the exam coming in 6 months time. It's just a matter of waiting."

"Sir." One of the examiners called out from the balcony. "The next match is about the start."

The man lifted his eyebrows with interest. "We'll have to continue our conversation later Misaki. While I can afford to let the examiners watch some of the fights on their own, I certainly can't miss my own son's match up."

Misaki gave a nod. "And I do not wish to miss my student in battle either. Thank you for you time." She replied.

Minato and Misaki headed out of the upper lounge and back down to the spectators section where their students were. Sarutobi watched them leave silently and the then stood up from his chair and walked over to his seat on the balcony. "Let's see what my son can do." He said.

________________

Riko tried her best to swallow her heart back down into her chest as she walked out onto the field. It wasn't the fact that she was up against Asuma that bothered her. It was the thousands of people watching that really bothered her. _Just relax, deep breath… everything is going to be fine. You can do this. You've fought academy students before; this is what you've been training to do. You will not embarrass yourself…you will NOT embarrass yourself._

"Riko-chan. Show him what the most youthful flower in Konoha can do!" Gai screamed from the stands.

Despite all the sounds filling the air, Riko was still close enough to the wall of the arena to hear her noisy teammate up above. His words made her face go three different shades of red.

Asuma noticed the look of embarrassment on Riko's face and just couldn't help himself. "My, my, your boyfriend is noisy." He teased.

"He's not my boyfriend!" She snapped.

"Whatever you say." He shrugged.

"Gooooo Riko!" Gai shouted again. "Gooooo Riko!"

Riko glanced over at the stands again and gave Gai a dirty look. _For the love of God, shut up! _She thought.

"The next match-up is between Sarutobi Asuma and Kienso Riko. The rules are as they were before. I don't want anymore funny stuff today, you understand?" The irritated moderator said. He was still feeling a little guilty for what happened in the fight earlier.

Asuma and Riko both nodded at him and turned back to face one another. "Ready?" Asuma asked.

"Bring it." Riko replied in a snide tone.

"Ohhh…someone's a little cranky." He teased again. He reached into his pouch and pulled out a pair of well-crafted looking hand blades.

Riko analyzed the weapons on his hands from a distance and then reached into her own pouch. She pulled out a pair of flat metal covers that slipped over the backs of her hands, covering them fully. She then reached into the pouch again and pulled out a pair of kunai.

The noise from the crowd had now lulled to a dull rumble. Riko was able to focus all her thoughts on the target in front of her. She wasn't going to lose. She wouldn't let that happen. _Here goes. _She thought.

She dashed forward and watched as Asuma mimicked her by back peddling away. Realizing that he wasn't going to let her get near him this early in the fight, she decided to take a different approach. She took the two kunai in her hand and tossed them hard at him. In one smooth motion, she reached down to her hip and grabbed what appeared to be a curved triangular blade.

Asuma looked at the projectiles curiously. They were clearly not aimed at him, but rather to each side of him. _What was she trying to do_?

Riko flicked her wrist and the single blade opened up into a large fan blade. She drew her arm back and tossed it at Asuma with everything she had. Asuma finally understood the intention of the kunai. They were meant to trap him so he couldn't run to either side. Instinctively he dropped to the ground as the blades went whizzing overhead.

Before he had a chance to recover, he could see Riko running straight at him, sliding in to kick him in the face. He quickly put his hands in front to block her from hitting him. He gripped her ankle with his hands and twisted it hard to the right. As he expected she turned with the movement to avoid breaking her ankle.

Asuma rose from his position on the ground as he continued to rotate her ankle. Unfortunately, he forgot to watch out for Riko's free foot, which was now hurtling towards him. Riko felt her foot make solid contact with Asuma's head, stunning the poor boy and causing him to release his grip on her. She landed hard on her knees but took no time to rest and ran forward to make distance between them. She turned around just in time to see Asuma wiping the blood away from the corner of his mouth.

"Something wrong?" She asked, smiling sweetly at him.

"Oh, shut up." He snapped back.

"Ooooo…somebody's cranky." She mimicked back as him.

Asuma ran forward full force and attempted to cut her across the chest with his hand blades. Riko blocked his attack perfectly, using the covers on the backs of her hands to do so. She made a grab for a weapon on her belt in between attacks, but Asuma was beating on her without breaking a stride, making it impossible.

_I need to make some space somehow. _She thought.

She attempted to counter attack him a few times, but he just came back at her full force again, preventing her from getting to another weapon.

_Shit…this isn't good. He's too fast!_

__________________

Gai leaned over the railing, never taking his eyes off the fight. This wasn't looking promising for Riko. Asuma was far faster than she was.

"This is lame." Someone behind him whined.

"They're just going to keep at this till she gets too tired to block." Muttered another.

"What a waste of time. Next!" Someone else teased.

"Shut up!" Gai snapped, turning on his heel to address the students. His face was flush with anger. "This fight isn't even CLOSE to over."

"What's she gonna do? Block him to death?" One of the boys laughed.

"You really think Riko can win this?" Rin asked, sounding hopeful.

Gai looked up at the quiet brunet in the stands and gave her a thumbs up. "Riko will win this fight. If not, I will perform handstands on the rocks in the hot springs for 12 hours!"

"You can't seriously think she's going to win Gai. Look at her; she's barely keeping up to him." Obito replied, as he adjusted the goggles on his face.

"This fight is very one sided." Kakashi added.

Rin looked up at each of her teammates nervously and then back at the green clad student posing for her down by the railing. "I want to believe she can win." She replied.

"She will. Trust me. Riko is probably just hiding something to use once he's tired." Gai tried to reassure her.

__________________

_I've got nothing to use! _Riko screamed on the inside, as she dodged another attack from Asuma. _No matter what, I'm going to get hit soon. I can feel my energy starting to go. I have to get away from this guy! _Riko was running out of ideas and decided to make a desperate move. She waited for the right moment and ducked under one of Asuma's attacks. She then forced her palms forward towards the only spot she knew would make him break his assault.

"Did she just?"

"That's a dirty trick."

"It worked though."

"Girls are terrible."

Asuma quickly threw his hands in front of himself to prevent the rather 'unfortunate' attack. Riko took the small window of opportunity to spin around and make a run for it. She got a few steps away and suddenly felt her head jerk back. She turned her head slightly to the side and could see Asuma glaring at her.

"A dirty move for a dirty move." He said as he tugged on the long purple fabric tied in her hair.

The look of shock on Riko's face quickly turned to an impish grin. "If you insist." She said.

Riko pulled forward hard. It hurt like hell, but she could feel the fabric let go. The piece of fabric released from her head and danced from his hand up into the air releasing a small metallic ball. The ball hit the ground and rolled down around Asuma's feet. Instantly it released a purple gas that engulfed him. Asuma coughed and hacked in the smoke. He quickly put his arm over his mouth and breathed into the fabric to avoid suffocating. His other arm was pulled up in front of him in a defensive stance to prevent any sudden attacks in the smoke. _Did she really plan that move_?

Riko ran out of the purple smoke and into a clear section of the arena. She put her hands on her knees and took a few deep breaths to regain her composure. _Phew…lucky. _She thought. That had never been the intent for the smoke bomb, but she was glad it had worked out. Earlier that morning in the teahouse, she had asked Misaki to tie the multiple strands of purple fabric into her hair with several flash, smoke and stink bombs looped inside of them. Her hair was thick enough to hide the little explosive capsules and she'd made sure to know which strand led to which type of bomb. She had intended to use them as distractions by pulling them out when she needed them but Asuma grabbing onto the strand had lead to an unusual opportunity.

She turned back in the direction of the smoke bomb and could see it was starting to clear. She was going to have to prepare herself quickly if she was going to beat this boy.

________________

Gai turned around triumphantly and looked at the stunned Genins behind him. "See! Told you she'd find a way out of it."

"Meh, a lucky move." Obito shrugged.

"Even I have to admit that was pretty clever of her, putting the bombs in her hair." Minato commented.

"She's doing well." Misaki added

_______________

Riko reached into her pouch and pulled out a set of hand blades of her own. These one's slipped over her hand covers perfectly and locked into place with a click. The blades pointed from her wrists out towards her fingertips in a point. She looked back up at the cloud of smoke and realized that it had nearly disappeared and Asuma was nowhere to be seen.

Instinctively her muscles tensed and she started searching the area for her opponent.

_Left? Right? Back? Where the hell is he?_

That's when she felt the charka signature below her. Riko leapt into the air quickly, just barely avoiding being grabbed by the hand below her. She landed gracefully a few feet away and watched as Asuma climbed out of the hole.

"Damn. Was really hoping you would fall for that." He muttered.

"Please, that's like day one at the academy." She scoffed at him.

"How about this then?" came a voice from behind her. Riko spun around just in time to see a second Asuma behind her.

"A clone?" She gasped, ducking just in time as the new Asuma attempted to grapple her.

She rolled to the right and quickly hopped back to her feet.

____________

"I have to say, Asuma has gotten pretty good with his clone." One of the examiners commented. "He's doing very well. At this rate, he's likely to pass the exam no problem."

"I wouldn't say that yet." Sarutobi interjected.

The examiner looked back at the Hokage a little surprised.

"My son is doing well, but he still lacks the maturity to be a solid Chuunin. Strength and skill is one thing, but the mind is also important. You must be able to understand the situation well and handle it properly. Asuma is simply using his power to overwhelm little Riko. Riko on the other hand is very aware of her disadvantage in this situation, and is plotting out each or her moves carefully. If Riko was as strong as Asuma and he fought her the way he is right now, she would easily crush him. If I had to choose one to pass at this moment, I would say Riko is actually the better candidate."

"Just because he's strong doesn't mean he's capable." Another examiner piped up.

"True, I suppose with a little more time, he could develop into a good Chuunin." The first examiner said.

Sarutobi gave a nod. "He will make a splendid ninja someday."

_______________

Riko gave a tug on another strand of fabric in her hair, causing it to let loose another bomb. This one hit the ground and created a brilliant light, which blinded Asuma and his clone. When the light subsided, both Asumas looked around the field to find it completely deserted. He looked around frantically for her.

Riko took a couple of quiet but deep breaths from her hiding spot in one of the few trees in the arena. This would probably be her last opportunity to rest. She had been hoping to save this for the next fight, but seeing how she was being pummeled every time she got near Asuma, she was left with no choice. She carefully pulled down her boots, revealing the leg weights tied around her calves. She gentle unhooked them and placed them in the tree. She then pulled up the sleeves of her shirt revealing another set of weights. She then untied these ones as well and set them down. She took one more minute to compose herself and knew her time was up when she heard him yelling out for her.

"Come out of that tree you chicken!" Asuma yelled.

Riko stretched out her arms and neck quickly before gently sliding out of the tree and revealing herself. She slowly approached Asuma. "I'm going to give you one chance to give up." She said.

Asuma looked at her skeptically and let out a laugh. "You're offering me a way out?" He asked.

Riko nodded. "That's right. I would like to end this fight peacefully if possible, so I'm giving you a chance to leave. If not, I'm going to have to hurt you."

________________

"What's Riko trying to do? Scare him?" Obito asked.

"She seems awfully confident." Kakashi commented.

Gai was now gripping the railing so tight; his knuckles were starting to go white. He continued to lean over the railing silently.

________________

Asuma was now laughing harder than he had in a long time. "You have to be kidding me! At what point did you ever prove to be threatening to me? You think because you tried to hit me in the crotch and choke me with a smoke bomb that I'm going to get scared?" He asked.

Riko took her initial stance. The hand blades glinted in the sunlight as she pointed them in his direction. "Last chance." She warned.

"You know, I heard you're the weakest person on your team." He added. "If that's the case, what makes you think I'd be scared of you?"

"Because." She said, taking a step forward. Asuma felt the wind whip past his face but nothing more. The next sensation he felt put chills down his spine. "My team is the strongest Genin team in the village." She whispered into his ear. She then kicked him as hard as she could, sending him flying across the field.

_When…when did she get that fast?_ Asuma thought as he went rolling across the field.

___________________

Minato's eyes widened a little. "Wow Misaki, who has that girl been training with?"

Even Misaki looked a little surprised. "Just Matsuri, but I set up their training to work on her weapons skills and attack accuracy more than speed. I don't recall Matsuri saying anything about speed training to me…" She said.

"That's because she was training on her own." Gai shouted up to his teacher.

Misaki looked down at Gai curiously.

"She'll definitely win this match now." Gai said, giving her a thumbs up.

"How unexpected." Commented Tekka.

Asuma quickly staggered to his feet, just in time to see Riko come dashing at him again. She seemed to be zigzagging across the field in a blur. Asuma couldn't even keep his eyes focused on her. Finally, she ran right up to him and struck him in the gut and chest, knocking the air right out of him. She then landed one hard kick into his chest, sending him flying backwards.

Asuma managed to rebalance himself just in time for the next onslaught, blocking as best as he could. _Even her hits are faster now! _

"What." Block. "The." Duck. "Hell." Jump. "Did." Dodge. "You." Block. "Do?"

"Just got warmed up." She replied, sweeping him off his feet. Asuma rolled off to the side, avoiding another attack from the young girl and scrambled to his feet to get away. He got in a few steps before she was suddenly in front of him again.

"I'm ending this now." She said.

Asuma looked terrified, but his expression quickly changed. "Please…ladies first." He said.

Riko looked confused, but before she knew it, a pair of hands locked around her feet and held her in place. She looked down terrified. _Crap. I forgot about the clone!_ She thought. She pulled as hard as she could and realized there was no escaping his grip. She looked up at Asuma who was smiling at her.

"I have to say, you were pretty impressive there. I was kinda worried. Too bad you forgot about my friend there. Now it's time for me to end it." He said, moving towards her.

Riko blocked his initial attack with her blades, causing them to spark together. They were now at equal speeds since Riko was finding it challenging to maneuver with her feet locked in place. Riko could feel herself starting to panic.

______________

"Looks like this fight is almost over." Kakashi said.

"Too bad, it was just starting to get a little interesting." Obito sighed.

Gai pulled himself up so he was practically hanging over the railing. "Don't give up Riko!" He screamed.

"Are you nuts Gai? There is no way she's getting out of this one. She'd need a miracle." Obito said. "Just accept it."

"Come on Riko! You can still win this!" He continued to scream, ignoring the Uchiha.

_________________

Riko blocked another attack by Asuma as he lunged at her, nearly losing her balance in the process. The clone that had her by the ankles was gripping her tighter and tighter, making her ankles start to ache. There was no time to attack the clone holding her feet and there was barely enough time to block the real Asuma's attacks. Her heart began to race from worry and exhaustion. She wouldn't be able to hold out much longer.

Asuma was getting frustrated. Riko's speed was still matching his, even locked in place. He decided to take a different approach and ran around behind her. Riko wasn't nearly as flexible in the position and was finding it dam near impossible to stop his attacks. Before long, she was unable to protect herself anymore and felt the hot steel slid along her back. She let out a loud cry as the sharp pain ran through her body.

_________________

"Riko!" Gai screamed.

"Oh no…" Rin half whispered.

"It's over." Obito said.

Riko gripped her side instinctively from the pain. She then felt a strong arm snake around her shoulder and warm wet steel press into her neck.

"Give up." He hissed. "This fight is mine."

Riko's head started to whirl from the stress of the situation and the pain in her side. Her heart was rattling in her chest, exhausted from her quick movements earlier. Riko didn't speak.

"Give up!" Asuma yelled.

"I…I can't lose." She said.

Asuma leaned back slightly. "I don't think you have a choice."

"No!" She shouted. "I…I said I wouldn't lose."

"Give up!"

"Never!"

The moderator was watching for the edge of the field. He looked up at the grandstands to the large balcony, awaiting the signal from the Hokage. The Hokage nodded at him, indicating he should end the fight. The moderator started to approach the pair of ninjas.

_____________

"Why won't Riko just give up?" Misaki half spoke to herself.

"You're right. She's just being foo- what the hell?" Minato said, leaning a little closer to get a better look.

___________

Asuma stood stunned in the middle of the field, clutching to nothing but air.

Riko reappeared a few short feet away from him and collapsed to the ground as static discharged from her body.

The moderator stared dumfounded at the scene in front of him and then looked back up at the Hokage who looked just as surprised. The Hokage put up his hand, signaling that the fight should continue.

__________

"Sensei!" Gai turned back to his teacher after seeing the display. "Riko is a lightning user like Koji?"

Misaki shook her head. "No…no, it's…" She leaned over slightly to Minato and whispered. "It must have been another emotional reaction to the stress. I can't believe she used my denkou steppu."

"I thought that wasn't good for her." He whispered back.

"It's not." Misaki said, tensing a little. She was praying on the inside she wasn't about to have to send ANOTHER student to the hospital.

_________

Riko scrambled to her hands and knees. She felt the heat rise from her belly and she coughed it out on to the ground in front of her. The world was spinning a little, but she was aware that she was no longer in Asuma's grip. Her head felt like a dead weight that she could barely lift. All she wanted to do was lay down.

"Riko! Get up! The fight isn't over yet!" Gai screamed. "Get up Riko!"

Rin watched the ever vigilant Gai screaming over the edge of the railing. She looked back at her teammates who were sitting silently. She took a deep breath, stood up and went over to the railing beside Gai. Gai looked at the little brunet with interest. She leaned over the railing and started to shout. "Get up Riko!"

Gai smiled, turned back to the arena and joined into the chanting. "Get up Riko! Get up Riko!"

Riko could hear the faint sound of her friend yelling at her. _The fights not over? I can still win this. _Riko pushed with all her might to her feet. She stood up as best she could, wobbling as she did. Her knees buckled a little, but she managed to stay upright. Asuma was still standing where he'd been before, looking confused. Riko watched as his clone released and he turned his attention to her.

"How...how did you do that?" He asked.

"I honestly don't know." She said, rubbing her head. "It hurt a lot though."

She pulled the blades and guards off her hands to relieve some of the weight she was feeling all over. Her arms and legs were tingling from top to bottom. She placed a shaky hand on her belt and pulled out a kunai.

"You seriously want to continue?" He asked.

"I can manage." She replied. _I have to do this in less than four moves. _She thought. _I don't have much energy left. _She took another deep breath and braced herself for what she was about to do. _Here goes nothing._

Riko lunged forward at Asuma who pulled his hand blades up in front of him and readied himself for the attack. Riko threw the kunai down at his feet and it cut into the ground like hot wax.

_One…_

Asuma looked down at the kunai and noticed the tag on the end sparking and hissing. He turned on his heel and made a run for it. The tag reached its end and created a huge explosion.

Asuma shielded his eyes from the light of the fireball but spotted movement out of the corner of his eye. He managed to block the attack to his left side, pushing off Riko to get away.

_Two…_

Asuma peddled backwards to make some distance between them. She wasn't as fast as before, so if he could manage to target her long enough to get in a hit he could probably finish this. The injury to her side was clearly slowing her down. Asuma was so distracted by the attack earlier and trying to come up with a plan that he never noticed the trip wire set up behind him. His heal quickly caught on it and he began to fall backwards.

_Three…_

Asuma swung his hands behind him to regain his balance. _When did she have time to set up trip wires?_ Then it dawned on him that earlier in the fight, when she had been significantly faster, she never ran directly at him. Rather, she was zigzagging all over the place. He had thought at first that it was to throw him off, but could it have been…

He turned his head just in time to see a steel weighted chain coming in his direction. He was still in mid fall, but he tried to block the chains with his hand anyways. The chain hit his arm and wrapped tight around his body, locking both his arms to his sides. The weights finally spun around him enough times, preventing him from shaking loose. Asuma, unable to correct himself, went tumbling down to the ground hard.

_Four._

Riko walked over to the boy lying on the ground and pulled a blade from her belt. "Now it's over." She said, holding it out as a threat.

The moderator looked up at the Hokage again, who nodded. He ran out into the field shouting at the students. "That's enough!" He yelled.

Riko looked over at the moderator and let her shoulders relax a little. _Thank God. _

"The fight is over. The winner is Kienso Riko." He said.

"How is that fair?" Asuma demanded. "You should have ended it earlier when I had her trapped. Who's to say I can't break out of these chains?"

The moderator put his hands on his hips. "Go for it." He said.

Asuma turned his head to the side and pouted. "We'll it doesn't matter now that you ended the fight." He muttered.

The moderator looked over at Riko. "Congratulations. Go take a break." He said.

Riko nodded and calmly walked off the field, leaving the moderator to untie Asuma.

_____________

"Alright!" Gai cheered. He turned hard on his heel and ran up the stairs.

"Gai? Where are you going?" Rin asked.

He turned briefly. "To go see Riko-chan."

Rin immediately took off after him. "I'm coming too!" She demanded.

Obito then hopped up from his chair. "I'll come too then, I want to see Asuma."

"Riiiight. Asuma." Kakashi said, looking at him out of the corner of his eye.

"Shh…Shut up!" Obito snapped, and then continued on his way after the other students.

____________

Riko leaned against the wall in the long empty hallway that lead from the waiting area to the combat field. Asuma was slowly approaching her, his head hung slightly and looking irritated.

Riko looked over at the defeated young boy with a smile. "Good fight today Asuma." She said.

"I guess so." He muttered walking over and leaning on the other wall.

"I guess you're kind of mad huh?" She asked.

Asuma looked up a little surprised. "Not really. You were just doing what you had to do. I'm just irritated 'cause I really wanted to show my dad today that I could do this."

"Must be hard having the Hokage for a dad." She replied.

"You have no idea. Everyone always compares me to him. What's worse, HE's always comparing me to people too. Nothing is ever good enough." Asuma said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. He drew one out of the package and slipped it into his mouth.

Riko's eyes widened. "You shouldn't be smoking those! It's illegal!" She said.

Asuma looked up at her again in surprise. "What are you gonna do. Tell on me?"

Riko looked down and smiled a little. "No…I won't. It's just not good for your health, that's all."

Asuma shrugged and continued to light the cigarette and take a couple of puffs. "What does it matter? I'm a failure anyways."

"That's not true!" She demanded. "You could have very well won that fight today. I just got lucky at the end."

"Sometimes luck is all you need." He sighed. He then stood up from his leaning spot, pulled the cigarette from him mouth and tossed it on the ground to stomp it out. He walked down the hall with a wave. "See you around Riko."

Riko gave a nod and went back to staring off into space. The peace didn't last long though.

"Riko-chan!" Gai cried, running up to her. Riko looked over at the group of Genin approaching her.

"Gai, Rin, Obito…what are you all doing here?" She asked.

"We came to congratulate you!" Gai said.

"You did terrific." Rin chimed in.

Obito looked around the hallway. "Where's Asuma?" He asked.

Riko pointed down the hall. "You just missed him. I think he was leaving the arena. If you run, you can probably catch him. I think he needs a friend to talk to." She said.

Obito nodded. "Thanks." He said, and ran down the hall after his friend.

"So Riko-chan. Didn't I tell you those weights would help you out?" Gai grinned proudly.

"They sure did." She smiled back. "I even had a set on my arms while I was training. It really helped me out there."

"On your arms? That…that's genius! Why didn't I think of that?!" He cried.

"Wow Riko, I can't believe how fast you've gotten!" Rin said.

"Thank you Rin." She smiled.

"Beautiful, Brilliant, Modest…you are a perfect rose." Gai said.

Riko felt her face flushing again. "Seriously Gai, stop talking about me like that. It's weird." She ordered.

Rin walked closer to her friend and took her hand. "Come on, let's go back up into the stands and watch the next fight!" She said, giving her hand a pull. She turned around slightly when she saw Riko was resisting.

"Actually I think I'll just stay right here." She said.

"What? Why?" Rin asked.

"We'll you see…I can't move my legs." She smiled sheepishly.

"You…you can't move your legs." Rin repeated back.

"Nope. Not even a little. In fact, if you tug any harder I think I may fall down." She said.

"What's wrong?" Gai asked.

Rin didn't say anything and bent down beside her friend. She ran her hands over Riko's legs, scanning them with her chakra. Rin's eye's widened. "Your legs are completely tapped of charka. I'm not even sure how you're standing right now."

"I thought they felt a little strange." She shrugged.

"How can you be so calm?" Rin asked.

"I think its cause my head is woozy." She smiled at her.

"That can't be good." Gai said.

"I guess I didn't realize how exhausted I was until the adrenaline wore off." Riko commented, leaning her head against the wall.

"We need to take you to the hospital." Rin said, starting to pull Riko towards her.

"Don't worry; I'm sure the feeling will come back soon." She said, waving Rin away.

"You seriously need treatment Riko. You legs are running on nothing." Rin demanded.

"You two need to stay here for your match-ups though." She insisted.

"It's okay. I can take her. My match-up isn't till the end anyways." Gai said.

"Think you can carry her?" Rin asked.

"Of course! Riko is as light as paper." He said.

"You are NOT carrying me through town!" She demanded, keeling over a little as the exhaustion started to kick in harder.

"You don't have a choice. You NEED to go to the hospital." Rin said, pushing her upright again.

"Do you have any idea how humiliating that is!?!" Riko shouted, causing an echo in the hall.

"Um…I'm standing right here." Gai said half-heartedly.

"As your friend and a future medical ninja, I am demanding you go to the hospital for treatment." Rin argued.

"But…but…" She stuttered. She felt her head getting heavier as the adrenaline continued to melt away.

"Gai, get her over there quickly." Rin said, leaning the exhausted girl on her shoulder and passing her to him. "She needs charka therapy."

"Please no…" Riko whined, too tired to fight back.

Gai scooped the girl into his arms and gave Rin a big smile. "I'll have her there in less than 3 minutes!" He said and then ran off to the exit.

"But…but it's a 20 minute walk! Even if you run you won't get there in that time!" Rin shouted after him.

Realizing he wasn't listening, she let out a big sigh. Gai was such a weird kid.

__________

About 10 minutes later, a very tired Gai arrived at the hospital, carrying a half-conscious Riko in his arms. He passed her on to the nearest medical ninjas that started her on charka therapy immediately.

"She really drained herself." The female medic ninja commented. "It was good of you to bring her in."

Gai approached the side of the bed Riko was laying in. She looked very drowsy, but the color was coming back to her face. "Is she going to be okay?" He asked.

"Oh, yeah. She'll be good as new in about 30 minutes. Children tend to recover faster from having their charka levels drained than adults. She went low, but it wasn't a dangerous level. There won't be any damage." said the medic.

Riko started swaying her head back and forth and humming to herself.

"Is that normal?" He asked.

The medic ninja chuckled a little. "Oh, yeah. Having charka levels go up and down too rapidly sometimes causes some mild psychosis. It will wear off in a few minutes. Nothing to worry about."

"Psychosis? Oh no! She's gone psycho? Oh my poor flower! Riko-chan…please Riko-chan! Come back to me." He cried, dramatically on the side of the bed.

The medic nin rubbed her temple in frustration. "Not psycho, psychosis. It's an altered state of mind. She sees hallucinations, her moods change, but it's only temporary. She'll be fine in a few minutes like a said before."

"Oh…" Gai said, looking a little embarrassed.

Gai leaned over the bed again a little more calmly. "Riko?" Gai whispered. "You alright?"

"I'm fine Anko. Never been better." She grinned, her head continuing to flop back and forth like a fish out of water.

"Riko, It's me. Gai." He said.

"Pfft. Nooooo….You look too girly to be Gai." She replied.

Gai pulled back from the bed with an offended look on his face. "What? There is nothing girly about my manly features. I get manlier everyday!"

"Oh stop it Anko. Just because you're the tomboy of our group, doesn't make you manly." She said.

The medical ninja was now laughing. "You should just give up. She'll come out of it in a few minutes."

Gai leaned over the bed again frowning. "I'll be back in a bit." He muttered.

"Bye Anko!" She cheered back.

Gai vibrated a little in frustration but spun on his heel and stomped out the door. "I look nothing like a girl!" He shouted once he was out the door. He turned his head to the sound of gasps and giggling a few feet from him and could see one of the attending nurses covering her mouth at his outburst. Gai felt his face flushing with heat again.

"Um…could you tell me where I can find Hyuuga Koji? He's my teammate and was admitted here there morning." He asked.

The woman's face became a little more serious. "He's just down the hall. I'm not sure if he's taking visitors right now, but I can go check for you." She said.

"He's awake?" Gai asked excitedly. "You mean he's okay?"

The nurse smiled sweetly and nodded. "Yes, he's recovering in his room right now. He'll likely have to stay in the hospital for a while longer, but he's stable now."

"Oh good." Gai said, sighing with relief.

"I'll be right back and see if you're friend is taking visitors." She said. "Who should I tell him it is?" She asked.

"Tell him it's his teammate." He replied.

The nurse nodded and took off down the hall. About 5 minutes later, she returned. "He's awake, so you can go see him. Right this way." She said.

Gai followed the nurse down the hall until they arrived to a corner room. Koji's name was written on a piece of paper that had been slid into the marker on the door. The nurse pulled open the door and Gai walked in. The nurse promptly closed it behind him. Gai looked over at the corner of the room and could see Koji lying in a bed with several tubes running into his arms. Koji looked up at Gai as he entered.

"One in three odds." He muttered.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Gai asked.

"Never mind. What are you doing here?" He asked.

"I came to make sure you're okay." Gai said.

"I'm going to live if that's what you mean. If you mean finishing the tournament…then no…I'm not fine." Koji said. He tilted his head back and stared at the roof, hardening his jaw as he held in his anger.

"All that work…and I got poisoned by a useless ninja like Anko." He muttered.

"You won the battle. You can't control that she cheated." Gai replied.

"I turned my back on her. That's a basic rookie mistake." He said. "I thought I was beyond that." Koji then turned his head to the side, staring Gai straight in the eyes. "Have you fought yet?" He asked.

Gai shook his head. "No, but Riko just finished. She won." He said cheerfully.

Koji turned back to the ceiling with a smirk. "So she beat Asuma."

"That's right and after I win my fight today, our whole team will have won our matches in the tournament. I bet that's a big deal for a whole team to all win their fights." He said.

Koji looked back at Gai again. "You really think you can beat Tekka?" He asked.

"Of course!" Gai said triumphantly. "I wish you could come and see it. I've got a new technique that will blow you away!"

"Even with a new technique…that doesn't mean you can win." He warned.

Gai felt the anger starting to rise. "Stop saying that! Just because you're sick doesn't mean I won't kick the crap out of you for being a smart-ass!" He said, storming forward.

"Would you shut up Fuzzy Eyebrows!?" Koji snapped. Gai froze on the spot. Koji sounded really angry for some reason.

"I'm not trying to wish you bad luck, but you need to stop acting like a hot shot and take this fight more seriously. Look at what happened to me." He said, holding up one of the tubes running into his arm. "That Tekka kid crippled Riko just by looking at her. If you think you can just walk in there and take the win, you are as big of a moron as I thought you were. So for once in your life, please…prove me wrong."

Gai stood silently in the room, taking in all that his teammate had said. Koji began to feel a little awkward and continued to speak. "Don't get caught in those eyes. If you do, you're finished." He said, looking out the window as he felt the awkwardness continuing to rise.

When he noticed the room was still silent, Koji turned slightly in the direction of his teammate to see if he was still there. He suddenly wished he hadn't. Gai's eyes were welling up with tears and he was whimpering a little. He wiped them away with the sleeve of his suit and ran towards his teammate.

"Don't worry, I won't let you down!" He cried.

"Hey, get off of me, that's gay! Ow! Seriously, you're pulling on one of the tubes in my arms. Let got of me! Stop it! Nurse! Nurse!" Koji cried.

About an hour later, Riko was finally released from the hospital. She had stopped by Koji's room to check in on him and Koji had insisted that Gai be kept out of the room while they visited. He refused to tell her why and Riko decided not to push the subject. After finishing her visit and promising that the team would come of visit tomorrow, Riko and Gai finally started their journey back to the arena.

"Hey, I was meaning to ask you. Did Anko come and visit me while I was in treatment?" Riko asked.

Gai couldn't control his reflex. "I do not look like a girl!" He shouted.

"What?" Riko raised her eyebrows curiously at her teammate's strange outburst.

Gai recomposed himself. "Um…nothing. No, she didn't come to visit. You must have just dreamt it up." He said.

"I see…well, I'm glad that's over. That's a sensation I never want to experience again." She said.

"I was meaning to ask you too. When did you learn Misaki-sensei's denkou steppu?" He asked.

Riko gave a nervous laugh. "I didn't. I think it was just an accident like the wind attack in the forest." She said.

"Wow, you're pretty lucky to be able to use such special attacks like that. Too bad they're just accidents though." He said.

"Yeah…" She said, looking a little sad.

Gai realized what he said had upset his teammate and tried to quickly fix it. "But don't worry. I'm sure if you just keep working hard at it, you'll be able to master them. Then think of how powerful you'll be!"

"I guess so…" She said.

Before their conversation could continue, a flash of light that erupted before them. "There you are!" said an exasperate Misaki.

"Misaki-sensei! What are you doing here?" Riko asked.

"Looking for Gai. His fight is coming up shortly and I wanted to make sure he didn't miss it!" She said.

"Alright! Finally, it's my turn!" Gai cheered. "To the stadium!" Gai took off full tilt for the arena.

"Slow down Gai! You're going to waste your energy!" Misaki yelled.

They finally arrived at the arena. Riko and Misaki wished Gai good luck and headed for the spectator section. Gai walked silently down the main hallway to the arena. As he approached the opening into the battlegrounds, he spotted the dark-haired boy leaning against the wall by himself.

He looked over at him with intensely dark eyes. "I was starting to think you weren't going to come." Tekka said.

"I wouldn't miss this for the world." Gai smiled, though this time, it was much more serious than usual.

The Uchiha looked out at the arena and watched the end of the fight before theirs while he continued to speak. "Your team seems to be full on unexpected surprises. I hope that training of yours makes this an interesting fight."

Gai didn't respond. He just growled a little to himself. He couldn't stand cool arrogant people like Tekka. He was just as bad as Koji and Kakashi.

"Maito Gai and Uchiha Tekka?" The moderator by the entrance asked.

"Here." They replied.

"Good. You're up. Please enter the field." He said.

Tekka walked ahead into the arena and Gai followed silently behind him, never taking his eyes off his opponent's back. He had to remain calm. Today was important for too many reasons. This battle would decide if he was ready to be a Chuunin. Furthermore, he was up against the person that had hurt his teammate. _Stay cool Gai…icy cool. _

He threw his arm up as a shield for his eyes as the sunlight poured over him. The rumbling sound of the crowd began to beat in his chest. His heart started to pound to the rhythm causing his excitement to increase. He'd waited so long for this, and it was finally here!

"Goooo Gai!" A female voice cheered from the stands.

Gai looked up at the railing that was over the entrance to the arena. Riko and Rin were both hanging over the edge looking down at him. Riko gave him a thumbs up, stuck out her tongue and gave him a wink. "Kick butt!" She said.

Gai gave a nod and took off into the field.

"Up next: Maito Gai versus Uchiha Tekka. Rules are as they were before. Are the contestants ready?"

"Yes."

"Good. Begin!"

END CHAPTER 16

Woo hoo! Another chapter done! Now to get on to the ever-exciting battle of Gai versus Tekka. Thanks for reading! And thank you to those of you that have been sending me reviews! They've been very helpful. They've also been keeping me motivated to continue writing the story. : -) --Lila


	17. Chapter 17 The Beast

Author: Hello! I'm back from the dead. Life has been crazy, but I'm now ready to come back to this story. Sorry to keep you waiting.

I want to be you - whenever I see you smilin'  
Cause it's easily one of the hardest things to do  
Your worries and fears become your friends  
And they end up smilin' at you  
Put on a smilin' face

_Smiley Faces_--- Gnarls Barkley

The History of Konoha's Noble Green Beast

CHAPTER 17

Sarutobi Hiruzen leaned back in his chair and took a long hard drag from the pipe hanging out of his mouth. He stared intently down at the arena battlefield below, which was bustling with noise. The two candidates in the arena were staring each other down as if they were face to face with their worst enemy. Hiruzen couldn't help but be amused by the visual clash of the opponents. The one was dressed in a stoic black and navy blue uniform, with his family's red crest blazed proudly across the back. The other, wore the most bizarre green suit Hiruzen had ever seen and no family crest in sight. Only his Konoha head protector wrapped around his waist identified that he was a member of the leaf village.

"Aki." Sarutobi ordered to the sheepish looking woman sitting over by the railing. "What can you tell me about these final competitors?"

Aki looked up from her papers. "The first one's name is Uchiha Tekka. He is a member of the Uchiha clan. He is considered quite skilled for his age, both inside and outside of his clan. There is talk of early admission in to the police force academy for him."

"I see." Sarutobi mused, pulling the pipe from his lips. "And what of the other boy?"

"Maito Gai, sir." She replied. "His family is not as well recognized in Konoha as the Uchiha's, but his father is well respected within the Jonin ranks of the village. He was one of the three men responsible for preventing the grass ninjas from invading a few years back by destroying the canyon routes to the west of the village. The young boy apparently had his elemental abilities tested recently. He is dominant in fire, just like the Uchiha boy."

"Fire versus fire…this should be interesting." He said. "Is this young boy really prepared to take on an Uchiha though?"

"Just because he's an Uchiha, doesn't make him a freakin' god Hiruzen!" A crabby voice snapped from behind him. Hiruzen peeked around his chair towards the entrance to the room. He smiled upon recognizing the person in the doorway.

"Get out of my way you little runt!" Kinji snapped at the Chuunin blocking his entrance into the room. "I've eaten dangos older than you!"

"Sir." The young Chuunin replied as politely as he could. "This area is for the Hokage, examiners and honored guests only. You cannot just come barging in here!"

"Get out of my way or I'll light you up like a fire cracker!" Kinji snarled as the light started to dance in his eyes. It pissed him off immensely that this Chuunin didn't know who he was and was not showing him the proper respect.

"It's in your best interest to step aside for him." The Hokage called out from his chair. "He really is liable to set you on fire. He is a good friend of mine anyways so feel free to let him in."

Upon hearing that the older man was a friend, the young ninja instantly relaxed. The Chuunin guard stepped aside for Kinji, who gave him a huff as he stormed passed him.

"We'll hello Kinji. What a pleasant surprise. I didn't think you enjoyed attending the Chuunin exams." Hiruzen said.

"I certainly can't miss my own student in a fight now can I?" He replied, walking forward and grabbing the seat beside Hiruzen. All the ninja's around quietly gasped upon seeing the casual bravado of the older man towards the Hokage. Hiruzen sensed the tension and gave a wave of his hand, indicating that it was okay. Hiruzen and Kinji had been good friends since they were in the academy together as children so he didn't mind Kinji's casual manners. Kinji was never one for social formalities.

"Your student?" Hiruzen repeated. "You mean to tell me you've come out of retirement to train someone?"

"I was merely doing a favor for Storm Cloud." He replied, crossing his arms over his chest and staring down at the arena floor.

Sarutobi couldn't help but smirk. _She always did have you wrapped around her little finger. _

"This ought to be a good fight then." Sarutobi commented. "I know you have a particular competitive streak when it comes to the Uchiha clan."

"Don't get me started Hiruzen." The man warned.

"Let's just focus on the fight then shall we?" Hiruzen smiled.

______________

Gai stood poised at the bottom of the arena. He stared across at his opponent, who looked back at him with his ever-stoic stare.

_I really hate the look on this guy's face. _Gai thought to himself.

Gai ran over his battle strategy in his mind. His teacher has prepared him thoroughly for this fight and he was not about to let him down. As he thought over the fight in his head, Koji's words rang in his ears. _"Don't get caught in those eyes. If you do, you're finished."_

That was going to make this fight particularly challenging for him. Not only did he have to fight one of the strongest Genin his age, but he had to do it without looking him in the eyes. He often depended on eye and head movement to determine where his target was going next, so learning to fight without looking him in the face would be hard. Fortunately, his sensei had realized this in his training and had tried to prepare him as best he could in such a short time.

____________

"_Sensei? What are you doing?" Gai asked, trying to maintain his sense of orientation as Kinji tied the piece of fabric over his eyes. "Misaki-sensei already did this exercise with me."_

"_And you obviously learned nothing from it. It does not matter though. My version of this exercise is much harder, and for a slightly different purpose." Once he had finished fastening the fabric, Kinji took a few steps back. "Sometimes in the heat of battle, certain senses will be taken from you. Despite this, you must learn to adapt quickly. Today, you will learn to fight without your eyes." He explained._

"_But sensei, how can I fight something I cannot see?" Gai asked._

"_You must rely on your other senses. Touch, smell, sound, taste…" He began to explain._

"_I'm supposed to TASTE my opponent?" He said, feeling rather disturbed at the idea of licking anyone in the heat of battle._

_Kinji let out a low growl. In all his years of teaching, he had firmly believed that there was no such thing as a stupid question, yet Gai seemed to prove his belief wrong on a regular basis._

"_Be sensible." He replied. "Now, let's see how you hold up against something simple like a fireball."_

"_WHAT!?" Gai shouted. "You are going to throw fireballs at a blind person!"_

"_Stop your complaining and dodge them dammit!" Kinji growled. "Use your other senses!"_

"_HIYAAAAAA!" Gai cried and started to run around frantically, hoping to avoid the attacks of the fireballs. Through some force of dumb luck, he managed to avoid being hit, but in his panic, didn't manage to sense the tree he went crashing straight into._

_SMACK!_

_Kinji gave a soft sigh. This was going to take a while._

________________

Gai had come a long way from running frantically into trees. He felt prepared, yet he could feel every nerve in his body twitching. His chest felt like it was going to explode. He got one shot against this kid…he couldn't let everyone down.

"READY COMPETITORS? BEGIN!" The moderator shouted, quickly hopping out of the way.

Gai immediately dropped his eyes down to his opponent's feet, which got a chuckle out of Tekka.

"Come now, Gai-kun." Tekka chide. "It's a sign of disrespect to avoid eye contact with an opponent."

"I apologize, but it's in my best interest if we save the eye contact for later." Gai replied. He felt like such a coward having to look away like this, but if he wanted any chance in this fight at all, it had to be done.

"If you insist." Tekka said, taking an offensive position and lunging forward.

Gai could hear the sound of crunching earth getting louder as Tekka approached. He placed his hands up in a defensive stance, preparing to counter his enemy's advance.

Tekka drew his arm back swiftly, then forward to land a hard punch across Gai's face, but Gai quickly threw his arm up into a blocking stance and countered with his other arm right into Tekka's gut.

Tekka took a few steps back to catch his breath.

"It's a sign of disrespect to take your opponent too lightly." Gai said calmly.

__________

"Wow, Gai is acting like a totally different kid!" Obito commented from his seat. "Where did this calm and collected looking person come from?"

"Look at that Riko." Rin smiled. "He's still okay!"

Riko turned to her friend, smiled, and then back to the arena floor. She wanted to believe that Gai would be okay, but she could not burn the memory from her mind of what Tekka was capable of doing. She still had nightmares of that snake crushing her ribs.

__________

_Look at that! I landed the first hit. He attacked; I countered and then landed the first hit! Against an Uchiha! Sensei must be so proud! _Gai squealed on the inside.

_________

"I know what you're doing down there you idiot!" Kinji shouted, lunging forward and hanging over the edge of the railing by his waistline. "Bragging inside your head! It was one freaking hit! Get back in the fight!"

"Kinji, he can't hear you yelling from up here." Hiruzen said sheepishly.

________

Gai was finally given the abrupt wakeup call he needed, when Tekka made another move. This time he attempted a couple of spinning kicks, which Gai still managed to defend against, but was unable to counter as Tekka was now moving at a more rapid pace. Tekka took a step back and tried to land a sweeping kick, but Gai hopped back out of reach.

Now with enough distance between them, Gai decided to go on the assault.

_Everyone…watch what I can do. _

Gai formed the appropriate seals and pulled his chakra down into his hands. The fireball grew quickly and within an instant, he threw the blazing inferno right at Tekka. Tekka was a little surprised, but side stepped the attack with ease.

"So you can use fire? Impressive….for a Maito." Tekka scoffed, rubbing his hand on the collar of his shirt. "But you have to realize what you are up against. My clan symbol is the very emblem of fire making!" He turned around and pointed to the crest on his back, then quickly spun back around. "Let me show you what a real fire looks like."

Tekka quickly formed the seals necessary and drew his hands against his lips. "Gōkakyu no Jutsu!"

_Oh shit… _Gai thought to himself.

"Run Gai!" Riko cried from the stands.

Gai took off in a mad dash, as the blazing trail of fire came hurtling at him. He was fast, but not as fast as Tekka, whose fiery technique was now licking at his heels. Gai managed to leap behind a rock on the battlefield just before the flames could reach him. It blocked the majority of the attack, but Gai could still feel the raging heat coming from around edges of the rock. It didn't bother him much. Weeks of being burnt nearly to a crisp by Kinji-sensei had made his tolerance for burns and heat quite high. After a few moments the fire subsided. Gai remained behind the rock, collecting his thoughts.

_Come on Gai…think it through. _Misaki thought.

_You know what to do boy…_ Kinji thought.

Gai scratched his head furiously. His fire techniques were clearly no match…not by a long shot. He wracked his brain for the best approach to his problem, but Tekka's voice cut through his thoughts.

"What's wrong Gai? Giving up already?" He asked.

Gai balled his fists tightly. "Not in your life!" He shouted from behind the rock. He popped his head out, wielding another ball of fire at the Uchiha.

_______________

"That was not thinking it through Gai." Misaki sighed.

"Always letting your emotions get the best of you" Riko shook her head.

"Idiot." Kinji muttered to himself.

________________

Just like before, Tekka returned fire with an even greater blast. Gai had to huddle behind the rock even more to avoid being burned. The heat was becoming so powerful now, Gai was starting to sweat.

_What to do, what to do..._ Gai muddled to himself.

"Coming out from behind there anytime soon?" Tekka asked.

There was no response, so Tekka decided to try to smoke him out, sending another blazing fireball at the rock. "You can't hide behind there forever!"

The fire from the attack dispersed again, leaving only the charred rock for Tekka to stare at. After another brief pause, Gai stood up calmly and turned to face his opponent, making sure to keep his eyes lowered. "Alright, let's try this one more time." Gai said. He formed all the seals he needed and drew the ball of fire to his hands again.

_________

"What the hell are you doing Gai?" Misaki said in an exasperated tone.

"Is he suicidal?" Minato added.

"Gai has absolutely no sense what so ever." Kakashi commented from his seat in the stands.

_____________

"My my…" Hiruzen said. "He's brave, but he doesn't learn very well does he?" He looked over at his friend Kinji who was smiling slightly. "You seem awfully happy for someone with a student making such elementary mistakes."

"It's not a mistake." Kinji said. "This was his strategy from the beginning." He leaned back in his chair proudly. "Weakness is the key to any fight. You can do one of two things with weakness. The first, and most obvious, is to use your opponent's weakness against them. If that isn't an option, you can use the weakness your opponent perceives within you against them."

Hiruzen turned back to the field. What on earth was Kinji talking about?

__________

"You really want to do this again?" Tekka questioned.

Gai nodded. "I'll prove I'm better than you." He replied.

Tekka shrugged. "It's your funeral. Here, I'll even give you a head start." He waved his hands by his sides to indicate he was not going to form the seals he needed yet.

Gai continued to form the fireball in his hands and whispered something to himself, outside of Tekka's hearing before throwing the projectile at him. The fireball was a little larger than the last, but still no match for Tekka's technique. "Fool." Tekka muttered. He drew his hands up to his lips and began to summon the fire from his mouth. His blast would easily over power Gai's attack.

Gai smirked. "Perfect." Gai pulled both his hands in front of himself and shouted. "Ameno Fuenikkusu….KAI!" He then began to pull his hands apart.

Instantly, the ball of fire Gai had released began to flatten out and spread as if it had wings. The ball of fire quickly split into two parts and flew around the trail of fire that Tekka was releasing from his mouth. Gai dove behind the rock again for protection as the Gōkakyu no Jutsu came hurtling towards him. He pressed his back hard against the rock to act as a shield.

The balls of fire Gai had released ripped past the Uchiha's attack and began hurtling directly towards Tekka. Tekka could now see the fire was coming straight for him, taking on the appearance of two great birds. He only had the time to stop his own technique and pull his arms against him as a shield. He cried out in pain as it struck him.

Gai peered over the rock proudly. "Bulls-eye!" He shouted.

_________

"What on earth was that?" Riko asked.

"Ameno Fuenikkusu, also called the Great Fire Bird technique. The technique allows the user to summon a form of the elemental bird of fire: the phoenix." Misaki explained.

"But, how is it controlled? Gai dove behind the rock before it landed the attack. Is it a living creature?" Riko asked.

"No. It is simply a technique." Minato cut in. The reason it attacked Tekka so accurately is because of what the phoenix is."

"What is that?" Rin asked curiously.

"The bird of the ash." Kakashi piped in. "It's born of the fire…"

____________

"And it must return to the fire." Kinji finished explaining to Hiruzen. "Or in this case, right into that smart ass Uchiha's mouth!"

"So it was a thought out plan. A little rough and barbaric, but nonetheless effective. Tekka perceived him as weak, so Gai used that to his advantage and made himself weak, causing Tekka to drop his guard a little" Hiruzen mused. _This kid deserves more credit than his gets._

_________________

Tekka crawled back up to his feet. His skin was seared slightly, but not as bad as it would have been had he not shielded himself. He was grateful that his jacket was made of flame retardant material. Otherwise he would have experienced far greater damage.

This loser was making him look foolish. He could not afford any more shame than he had acquired. He would have to go all out and destroy his enemy quickly to save face. He could already imagine the lecture he was going to get from his father for this embarrassment. Never in his life had he expected Gai to have the intelligence to set him up like that. Things were about to change quickly though.

"I'm going to destroy you." Tekka hissed, his eyes taking on the blood red appearance that Gai was becoming far too familiar with.

Gai immediately looked away in order to protect himself, the warnings of his teachers and friends ringing in his ears. Those eyes would make this difficult, but he couldn't let that stop him from winning.

Tekka lunged forward, leading with his elbow, but Gai put up his arms in time before Tekka could lay a strike. He was able to follow the movements of Tekka's arms, but having to keep his eyes averted made it awkward to do so. How was he supposed to predict attacks without signals from the enemy's eyes like he was used to?

_I'll have to find another way._

Tekka was now faster, and the hits were far more brutal. Gai was struggling to keep up. Tekka finally managed to get past Gai's guard and landed a hard hit into his gut. Without the slightest pause, Tekka switched into a spin kick and sent Gai sailing across the arena floor.

Gai cried out in pain as he rolled across the ground.

"I'm going to burn you till that suit of yours is black." Tekka said, drawing his hands up to his lips.

Gai instinctively rolled behind the large tree beside him. The tree quickly went up in a blaze and Gai had to lunge behind another rock nearby.

Gai took in a deep breath trying to calm his nerves. There was no time to relax though as Tekka was beside him before he could even process it and landed a hard punch across his face. Gai could taste the blood pooling in his mouth. He tried his best to ignore the salty metallic sensation and focus on the threat before him. Tekka was now laughing. He grabbed Gai by the shoulders and pushed him against the rock. Gai turned his head to the side.

"Come on Gai. Just one little look and I'll end your suffering." Tekka cooed in a mocking tone.

"Never!" Gai shouted back at him.

"Have it your way." Tekka shrugged. He then picked Gai up by the shoulders and threw him a few feet away. "I'll just have to kill you the old fashioned way then."

Gai scrambled to his knees and did the only thing he could think of. "Boar, Dog, Bird, Monkey, Ram…" He chanted to himself. He slammed his hand to the ground. Instantly, a puff of smoke formed then quickly dissipated, leaving a grumpy turtle in its place.

"Yo." Babarusu said, looking up at Gai. "What's going on?"

Gai pulled himself back to his feet. The pain was becoming unbearable in his chest and stomach. Tekka had landed some critical hits and Gai was pretty sure he had at least one cracked rib on his left side. He would have to fight through the pain though.

"Babarusu. I need you to even this fight for me. Use that technique when you hear my signal." He ordered. "And whatever you do, don't look him in the eyes."

"I figured as much. Alright, just let me know when you need me." Babarusu replied.

"That's your big strategy? A turtle? You must be getting desperate." Tekka mused.

"I thought I told you not to take me lightly." Gai growled back.

"As if I could ever take someone that looks like you seriously." Tekka replied. "Let's finish this."

This time as Tekka moved in for the kill, Gai decided to run forward and meet him in the middle to throw off his momentum. It didn't work very well, but Gai was able to dodge the few attacks thrown at him.

"Do you really think you stand a chance against me?" Tekka asked in mid swing.

"You are only as strong as you make yourself!" Gai grunted back as he tried to lay a hard blow to Tekka's shoulder which was easily countered.

Tekka moved into a sweeping kick pose which Gai prepared to defend against, but realized too late that it was a fake out and was quickly knocked back by a stone palm maneuver to the chest. Gai was once again on his back and Tekka rushed forward and pinned him to the ground.

Gai struggled against the pressure above him, but it was no use.

"Still won't look me in the eye and end your misery?" Tekka asked.

"Never! I will never surrender to you!" Gai shouted, keeping his head turned to the side.

"Fine. I shouldn't waste to sight on you anyways" Tekka said. He reached into his pouch and drew out a kunai. "Goodbye Gai-kun." He said, and began to draw the kunai above his head.

"Now Babarusu!" Gai shouted.

Instantly, a blast of water hit Gai and Tekka full force, blowing the pair apart and half way across the battlefield.

_____________

"By getting his turtle to use his water cannon, Gai has taken Tekka's fire techniques temporarily out of the picture and saved himself." Hiruzen commented. "But unfortunately he also took out his own as well."

"Who cares?" Kinji snapped. "The kid isn't that good with fire anyways!"

Hiruzen gave him a puzzled look. "What will Gai rely upon then?"

Kinji tilted his head back and scrunched his brow, thinking back on the performance of his student. "That kid is far from a genius, and lacks a lot of the natural ability to go far with his fire techniques. With a few years training, he might be respectable, but still, that is not where his strength lies."

"Oh?" Hiruzen asked. "Where does it lie then?"

"Let him show you." Kinji replied, returning his gaze to the battle below

____________

Gai lifted himself up onto his elbows and sputtered out water as he reoriented himself. Babarusu had wandered over to his side to make sure he was okay. The turtle was about to ask, but Gai briefly gave him a thumbs up which answered his question.

Gai would not rush to hide this time as he knew for sure the technique had watered down the enemy as well as himself and would hopefully keep him from using his techniques for a little while (though not long). At this point, Babarusu knew to hit the enemy with the water cannon any time he saw him using a fire attack. Hopefully Babarusu's first attack would turn Tekka off the idea of using them at all.

Gai lifted his head up and looked around for his enemy, but quickly regretted it, for he found himself staring right into the worst possible situation. The red and black pattern of Tekka's eyes began to dance before him. "Got you." Tekka smiled.

____________

"Oh no." cried Riko. "He got him!" Riko began to panic. In a matter of moments, her teammate would likely be dead.

"It's over." Minato frowned.

Misaki began to run down the stairs. She knew it was futile, if Tekka was going to kill him, he'd do it before she could reach him. Still, that didn't mean she wouldn't try.

_____________

The world began to melt around Gai until there was nothing left but black. Was he dead? Had Tekka really killed him? Had he truly failed?

"This can't be the end." Gai said to himself.

"Oh but it is." Tekka's voice echoed. "But I'm still kind. I will let you say goodbye to your friends."

With those words, shapes began to develop in front of Gai, slowly taking on the familiar form of his friends. Riko, Koji, Kakashi, Rin…all his classmates and teachers were standing before him now.

"Everyone…" Gai began but was quickly cut off by his teacher.

"Honestly Gai, do you think you could just do one thing right?" Misaki chide.

"Too stupid to follow simple instructions." Koji added in.

"Too spazy to succeed at anything." Obito added.

"No need to cry over such a pathetic loss as this loser." Anko continued.

"The village will probably be better off without him anyway." Minato agreed.

"Why did they even let such a person into the academy?" Kakashi asked. "I thought there were standards."

"Everyone makes mistakes, even me." Replied their old academy teacher.

"It's okay, you were probably stunned by that loser haircut and ridiculous suit. Look at him! You'd have to be nuts to walk around looking like that!" someone else added.

Gai looked around frantically at the people in front of him. How could they say such things about him?

His eyes fell upon one of the few people yet to speak. "Riko-chan." He murmured.

She looked over at him with a cold look on her face. "You should probably just kill yourself Gai so no one else has to waste the time doing it."

"Good idea!"

"Yeah!"

"Just kill yourself Gai!"

"You're never going to amount to anything anyway!"

"Just end it already!"

"Get it over with."

Gai felt the hot salty tears welling up in his eyes. Their words cut worse than kunai. He slammed his hands up over his ears. "Stop it! I don't believe you!" He screamed. But his hands didn't stop the noise at all. He pulled them away to find large gaping holes in the center of them, preventing him from covering his ears.

"Ha! Look at him! Loser can't even cover his ears!"

"Just kill yourself Gai! We are all sick of looking at you!"

"You were never meant to be on this team! Your whole life is a mistake!"

"Stop it!" Gai screamed.

_________________

On the outside world, Gai was standing motionless across from Tekka.

Babarusu had been screaming madly with no response. Misaki had made it down the stairs and was about the leap over the railing but two ANBU grabbed her arms and prevented her from getting over.

"You cannot interfere in this Misaki-san, the fight is not over yet." The one ANBU spoke calmly.

"Let me go!" She shouted, struggling against their grip.

Riko's grip on the railing tightened, so much that her knuckles were turning white. Gai couldn't die, he just couldn't. She felt nauseous as thoughts of what Tekka was doing to him whirled through her mind.

"Look!" Rin shouted, as she pointed out at the fight. "He's moving!"

Sure enough, Gai's hands were in fact moving, though in the very slow and shaky motion. He slowly reached down into his pack and pulled out a kunai.

Babarusu, could tell it was not Gai moving of his own freewill and was dreading the worst now. Gai had explained the technique the Tekka was using. It was possible to kill or subdue an opponent just by looking at them, by manipulating what they see and feel. Gai was now pulling the kunai out in front of himself, confirming Babarusu's worst fears.

"No! Not hara-kiri!" Screamed Misaki from the stands.

"Gai! Wake up!" Babarusu screamed. He lunged forward and latched onto Gai's foot with his mouth.

_______

Gai was trying to fight off the sounds of the taunts, but it was becoming unbearable.

Every bad thing he'd ever thought, every bad thing he'd ever over heard people say about him, everything he'd ever brushed off and smiled away was now filling his ears to the brim and worst of all, it was coming from some of the people he cared most about. He tried to convince himself it wasn't real, that it was just part of the illusion, but it felt so real that he was losing the ability to separate himself from it.

Suddenly, he noticed the kunai that had appeared in his hand. The noise was becoming more agonizing. He had tried desperately to block it out and his cries for them to stop had been in vain. He had to end his suffering before he went mad and this kunai would save him.

He drew the kunai out in front of him, preparing to plunge it into himself and end his torment. As he was just about to thrust it forward, a strange sound caught his attention. It was not like the other jeers. It was faint, but it sounded almost desperate.

"Wake up!" It shouted. Gai paused momentarily with the blade and listened again for the voice.

"Wake up!" It cried again.

Before Gai could register the voice's location, he felt a force of chakra pulse through his body like searing heat. The jolt was harsh but just as quick as the forms of his friends in the dark world has appeared, they were gone and he was standing back on the battlefield.

Gai looked down at the turtle that was attached to his ankle.

_He saved me. _Gai thought. Babarusu had been quick to act by pushing his own chakra through Gai, forcing the technique to break. A soft smile crossed Gai's face but quickly vanished when the more painful sensation hit him. _And he's biting me!!!_

"Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Let go Babarusu!" Gai shouted, frantically shaking his leg to make him let go.

The turtle released and landed to the side. "Just wanted to make sure I'd put enough of my chakra through you to break the technique before I let go."

Gai reach down and touched his ankle with a frown.

"What the hell are you pouting for? You've got major bruises and cuts on you and you're going to pout over my little ankle bite?" He growled.

"You're bite is harder that you think!" Gai shouted back.

"Unbelievable!" A voice cut into their argument. Gai turned towards his opponent. Tekka was walking towards him looking even more irritated than before. "I burn you, I beat you and I torment you and you still won't die. You're like a bad cold."

Gai didn't respond. He knew their next clash was likely to be the last one. He was going to have to pull out all the stops now. He reached down and pulled away the weights on his legs. He then took a knee and spoke softly.

"Sensei, I am sorry, but I have to use that technique now. It's the only way." Gai said to himself.

__________

Kinji knew what was coming next, and he knew well that it would concern the Hokage when he saw it.

"There is something I should share with you before the next section of the battle begins." Kinji said. "The reason I am not worried for my student."

Hiruzen looked over at him curiously. "And what is that?"

"I told you that Gai is not gifted in the art of fire and is not a genius, but that is not entirely true. Gai is actually a genius in a special manner that I have never seen before. He is gifted in the art of the body."

"The body?" Hiruzen repeated.

Kinji nodded. "I've kicked that boy and beaten him half way around the village during our training, but there was something always so odd about him. I could never hit him the same was twice. You see, he learns quite well when it comes to hand to hand combat. He doesn't have a natural instinct for it, but he learns. His hard work on this has always paid off. That is why…I gave him the scroll that was on the top shelf in my den. The one I put up there over twelve years ago."

Hiruzen's eyes widened in shock. "You gave such a scroll to a child?" He responded.

"Hiruzen, he understood it as if he'd written it himself. The gates are not something that are just naturally understood by everyone. We only trained a few weeks with it….and he can already open three of them."

"The consequences of that technique though…" Hiruzen responded. "I hope you are sure he is wise enough to handle such a technique."

"Like I said before…let him show you." Kinji replied.

__________

END OF CHAPTER

I know it's short, but I wanted to get it out there. Promise the next will be longer. Hope you enjoyed!


	18. Chapter 18 Gates

The History of Konoha's Noble Green Beast

CHAPTER 18

"Good morning Sensei! I'm here for training!" Gai shouted, walking in through the front door of his teacher's home. The light from the front door pooled in behind him, making the hall glow from all the dust inhabiting it. A small head popped out from one of the hallway doors to greet him.

"Good morning Gai-san!" The little boy shouted.

"Good morning Haru-kun." Gai smiled at the little boy. Though they had originally started off on the wrong foot, Haru had grown to like Gai and even admire him a little. Very few people could withstand his grandfather's training techniques for long and Gai managed to come back on almost a daily basis. "Do you want to spar Gai-san? I have been practicing all week." Haru asked, demonstrating his initial fighting stance to the older boy.

Gai gave him a smile. "I'd love to, but your grandfather gave me strict orders that I was to be on time today. Do you know where he is?"

Haru pointed to a door further down. "In the den at the end of the hall. He wanted me to tell you to meet him there."

"Thank you." Gai replied and hurried down the hall to meet with his teacher. Gai slid open the door. "Good morning sensei."

Kinji turned to look at him over his shoulder and nodded. "Good morning. Are you ready for today's training?" He asked.

"I am still a little sore from yesterday, but it is nothing I cannot endure." He assured the man.

"Good." Kinji said, turning his attention back to the scroll in front of him on the desk. "Today's training will not be quite as physical, so you will have a little time to heal."

"But Sensei," Gai responded with surprise, "Should I not work further on the phoenix technique you taught me?"

"You have reached your limit with that technique for now..." Kinji said cutting him off. He looked over the scroll again in his hand, debating if he was making the right decision. "Come here and take a look at this."

Gai walked over behind his teacher's shoulder and peered at the scroll he was examining. It was clearly a very old document and the writing on it had been done with a great deal of care. The top end of the scroll was accented with a set of decorative sliver knobs and the bottom end had matching ornamental rings intended to clasp over the knobs when rolled up. "This scroll looks valuable..." Gai mused. He then turned his attention to the writing on the scroll. "The Eight Celestial Inner Body Gates..." He read aloud. "What is this sensei?"

"Your power play I believe." He replied, knitting his brow slightly. "At least, I think it will be."

He turned around and faced his student. "This is a technique that was handed down to me by my father and has been in my family for generations. It was written by an elite order know as the Scholars of the Gates."

"Scholars of the Gates?" Gai repeated, scratching his head. "I don't think I've ever heard of them."

Kinji chuckled slightly. "Now you're making me feel REALLY old. It was prestigious group of scholars that firmly believed in the energy and self preserving life of the body. They studied the body in great detail, from basic muscle function down to chakra flow. What they learned over time was that the body contained limitations or barriers which held in its fullest potential. After an even greater amount of time, they learned how to move past these barriers, or as they referred to them: opening the gates."

"So this scroll will allow me to release my fullest potential?" Gai shouted wide eyed, grabbing the scroll and running across the room to look it over. "Amazing! I'm going to learn how to open them all right away and then I'll be unstoppable!" Gai began bouncing up and down in a giddy fashion as he scanned over the document.

"You idiot!" Kinji shouted and smashed him over the head with another nearby scroll, causing Gai to lose his grip on the document. Kinji quickly took the scroll back from him and looked it over to ensure his over reactive student hadn't made a tear in the paper. "This is not some cheap trick you can just casually pull out of your poc-"He paused for a second, glancing at Gai's suit. "I mean suit...whenever you feel like it. With powerful techniques, there are always consequences."

"Consequences?" Gai repeated as he nursed the bump forming on his head.

"Don't you think if there were no consequences to this technique, everyone would be using it?" He asked rhetorically. "This technique is both powerful and forbidden. At full power... it will most definitely kill you." Kinji said in the most serious tone he could muster. Gai couldn't decide what was more intimidating: Kinji's words or his stare.

Gai's eyes widened in surprise. "Then Sensei, why would anyone use such a technique if it could kill them?" He asked.

Kinji tugged gently on his chin, trying to formulate the best response. "Gai, why do you wish to be a ninja?" He asked.

Gai's eyes widened in surprise. It seemed like the answer was obvious. "Because I want to protect the village." He replied.

"And why do you want to protect the village?" Kinji asked, moving behind his writing desk.

"Because that is what the ninja's of Konoha do sensei." He answered.

"Baka!" He shouted, throwing the paper weight from his desk at Gai's head. Gai leaned to the side, clearing the projectile, but remained in a defensive position just in case. His teacher was known for consecutive attacks.

"Don't answer me like a god damn text book! I swear on my ancestors' lives the academy spits you brats out with these white wash responses. Tell me why YOU want to protect the village!" He barked.

There was a brief pause while Gai thought over his response a little more carefully this time. "Because...because I have many precious people I want to protect." Gai said.

When there was no response from his sensei, Gai placed his arms a little closer to his chest in preparation for another assault. He continued talking in hopes the answer his teacher was looking for might pop out. "Because I want to be recognized for all my hard work and be taken seriously by my friends and fellow ninja. I want to be a ninja that others can look up to. A ninja that can protect those that are important to them and make a difference to the village."

Kinji slowly approached Gai who pulled his arms up again in a full defensive position. He closed his eyes and braced for the next assault but just as quickly opened his eyes in surprise when he felt a gentle hand land square on this head and rustle his hair. His sensei was giving him one of his rare but genuine smiles.

"That was both a good answer and real answer." He replied. "You want to grow stronger so you can protect that which is precious to you." He handed the now wrapped up scroll to his student. "There may come a time where it will take every last ounce of strength you have to do this. I want to give you the ability to use all that strength when the time comes." Kinji now placed his hand on Gai's shoulder. "I'm not good at complimenting people Gai but I get the sense you don't get much of it, so I will tell you this...for those that don't believe in themselves, hard work is worthless...I have never once seen you give up on yourself. Because of that, I know one day you will make a fine ninja."

Gai was stunned by what he was hearing. One of the gruffest and toughest men he had ever met in his still short life was saying that he believed in him! He felt the hot tear of joy starting to bubble up and out of him. "Thank you Kinji-sensei!" He cried out and wrapped his arms around the old man.

"You moron!" The man shouted, struggling to pry himself free of Gai's death-grip hug. "Why must you always ruin subtle moments!"

He finally freed himself and proceeded to swat his student away like a bug as he brushed the wrinkles from his shirt. Once he was satisfied with his appearance, he looked up at his still blubbering student. "Stop that before I cook you like cheap BBQ." He growled with a menacing tone. He was beginning to regret the sensitive moment he had offered his student. Gai was just too sensitive for his comfort.

Gai immediately wiped the tears from his eyes. "Sorry." He said through a sniffle as he did his best to man up before his sensei got seriously pissed and took more extreme action against him. "Sensei? Can I ask you one more question?"

Kinji sighed, hoping it had nothing to do with the blubbering. "Go on."

"If this is a forbidden jutsu, why are you giving it to me?" He asked. "This could get you into a lot of trouble."

"Forbidden jutsus are forbidden often because they are dangerous to both the wielder and the target. I have faith you will be responsible with this jutsu. I believe you will use it right." He replied. Gai looked down at the scroll in his hands again with slight awe. He held it more delicately now, fearing it might crumble to dust in his hands. Kinji turned away pretending to be fascinated with something on his bookshelf while he spoke.

"Alright, enough of this touchy feely crap! Go out in the yard and start reading. Understand as much as you can. I will be in the den if you have questions, but this is a lesson best learned on your own." When Gai wasn't moving quickly enough for his satisfaction he began to forcefully usher him out into the private yard before sliding the door shut. "Don't disappointment me Gai." He said through the door. "Or we'll have to go back to our earlier teaching methods."

Gai winced slightly, knowing very well what his teacher was referring to. He turned his attention away from the door and walked over to a comfortable and well shaded spot of grass. He gently pulled the scroll open and began to read.

"Eight Celestial Inner Body Gates: The Inner Body Gates are located at specific points within the human chakra system. These gates withhold the ultimate potential of the different functions of the body, for if they were allowed to flow freely, the body would no longer maintain its state of symmetry with the universe and crumble within itself. However, we have discovered that through concentration and a great deal of care, these gates can temporarily be forced opened, allowing the ultimate potential to flow and giving the user a great deal of untapped power." Gai scratched his head slightly. "Alright, that makes sense, but why do scholars always insist on using fancy words and long sentences? Is it to make people's heads hurt more?" He realized he was getting off track and returned to the writing.

"If used properly, the user may become stronger than some of the world most elite shinobi, but if used wrong, the user will most certainly die...so sensei wasn't kidding." Gai streamed his eyes further down the page. "The eight gates are as follows: Initial, Healing, Life, Pain, Limit, View, Wonder and Death." Gai couldn't help but feel a tad uncomfortable by the name of the final gate, but if what his sensei said was true, it was probably the most fitting. Gai scrolled through the meaning of each gate and what it unlocked. He could barely believe his eyes at what he was reading. "All of this can be achieved?" He murmured to himself. "Well...I suppose if it's dangerous, I better start with just trying to open the first gate."

Gai read over the instructions for how to force open the first gate three times to ensure he understood the instructions. He wanted to get this right the first time. It wasn't just that he feared getting killed, but any major damage to his body would hold him back in the Chuunin finals, and he couldn't risk falling behind his teammates.

He stood up from his spot on the ground and took his stance in the middle of the yard. The script had suggested that crossing the arms in front of the body was often helpful at first as it acted as a focus point. Gai decided he should take full advantage of this and formed an 'x' with his arms in front of his face with his palms facing outward. Closing his eyes, he tried to feel out his chakra system and locate the gates within him. It took a little work, but eventually, he began to sense in his body, where the chakra was the most concentrated and where it felt like it was being held back. It reminded him a little of a damn in a river. He eventually found the exact point in his brain that held the first supposed gate. He gently pushed his chakra forward, forcing it against the resistance, trying to push it open. He knit his brow and felt the sweat beginning to pool on his forehead, but did his best to ignore it and continue to center his attention on the task at hand. The harder he pushed his charka forward, the more he could feel the resistance. He wasn't sure if it was his imagination, but it felt like the resistance was getting stronger. "Just...need...to hold out." He grunted, pushing further. He felt his chakra beginning to spill out and around the channel in his body, which made him feel a little ill. He continued to press on, forcing more and more chakra across the gate. Finally, the nausea became too much and he dropped his charka levels and collapsed to his knees.

His breath was laboured as he rested on the palms of his hands on the ground. Kinji watched from a split in the window cover at his student on the ground. Things were going as he had expected. He had really wanted to believe Gai would be capable of opening the gates in a short amount of time, but the expectation that he would be able to do it in a couple of days was ridiculous. At this rate he would just be setting his student up for failure. Still, Kinji couldn't ignore is gut instinct that told him this was the right move. Gai has taijutsu potential like he had never seen and the gates were a perfect complement to this.

Gai balled his fists up on the ground and slammed them both downward, leaving gentle divots behind. "No!" He demanded to himself. "You do not give up like this!" He ordered himself. "If you want to learn this you can learn this and you are going to figure it out right now!"

Gai returned to an upright position and took his stance again. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. This time he started the chakra flow more gradually. As he increased the pressure through the gate, he pulled it back ever so slightly every time he felt his chakra overflowing around the gate again, bringing it back to a refined stream. He continued to increase the pressure, all the while refining the force through the gate. The more he pressed, the harder the resistance continued to get. He figured this was the body's natural response in trying to protect the natural order. The pressure was getting so intense Gai was becoming convinced that it wasn't a gate but just a wall that would never come down. But it didn't stop him

_I will not be left behind. _He chanted to himself. _If I fail, I will only come back stronger the next time. I will bloom again, and again, and again..._

Suddenly, Gai felt the damn break. It was like having rushing water pour through his veins. He could swear his muscles were about the burst from the sudden sensation. He opened his eyes wide and took in a deep breath. Even his breathing felt deeper. He walked around a little bit, taking in the sensations around him. Everything felt lighter. Gai calmly walked over to a nearby log that was lying decoratively in the backyard.

Kinji watched attentively from the window. Had his student already figured out the first gate already? Or was he just taking a break?

Gai gingerly reached over and grabbed onto the end of the log. It was about the size of him. In a normal circumstance, he probably would have been able to roll it over with some effort. He studied the way the bark felt under his finger tips for a moment and then proceeded to lift it in the air with little effort. It was like picking up a common stick you would throw for a dog. Gai began to laugh to himself. "Hahaha. I did it!" He cheered, dancing around with the log still in hand. "I did it! I did it!"

"You idiot!" Screamed Kinji who came barging through the back door. "Put that back down this instant!"

Gai did what he was told immediately. He placed the log down carefully and turned to his teacher with a smile. "I did it sensei and look: no side eff-"Gai didn't even get to finish his sentence before the razor hot heat raced up his arm. He clutched to it tightly. "What...what's happening?" He asked as the pain became more severe."

"Release the technique." He ordered. Gai did as he was told and Kinji immediately examined the arm and started to tend to it with medical jutsu. "You tore a lot of muscle tissue with that idiotic log stunt. I swear I can't leave you alone for a second!"

"I don't understand." He replied.

Kinji normally would have smacked his student at this time, but the tear was a priority so he continued his work. "The initial gate is the body gate. Forcing it open allows the user to release 100% of their muscle potential. The side effect is that any extreme physical effort on that muscle will likely cause severe trauma, tearing the muscle to pieces. That is why this technique must be used conservatively. Got it dumpling brain?"

Gai nodded, relaxing his tensed muscles as he felt the pain subside from his teacher's healing technique. "I understand sensei. I will not abuse it again."

"Good..." Kinji muttered as he wrapped the arm in a tensor bandage for now to allow the natural healing to take place. "Most of the damage is pretty minor now. You should be fine for the finals. I have to say I am surprised you managed to open the gate on your second try. I honestly expected it to take you a lot longer." The man stood up and brushed himself off. "Now I can teach you a few special techniques you can use with the first gate and then we'll see if we have time for any of the others."

Gai immediately hopped up. "Yes Sensei!"

"And no more tossing around my lawn ornaments or I'm going to turn you into a decoration for the bottom of my fish pond!"

It had been a few more days of intensive training, but Gai had learned much. He had promised his teacher he would only use the gates if absolutely necessary. While the loss of his weights would make him faster, he needed to ensure optimal speed to avoid being caught in Tekka's eyes again. He knew if it happened again...Tekka would not hesitate to kill him.

The students continued to watch from the stands in awe. Most of them had never expect Gai to get this far and some were even beginning to voice their opinions about it.

"Why is he just sitting there? Is he giving up?" Obito asked.

"He looks like he might still be able to fight. If he's smart, he'll just give up now before he gets himself killed." Another student piped in.

"He was lucky he survived getting caught in the Sharingan the first time. No one is lucky enough to get past that twice." Someone else piped in.

"Shut up!" Riko shouted from the front of the stands, turning back with an evil glare. She was already emotionally strung out watching this fight. She was all too familiar with how dangerous this whole situation was and it was becoming a lot to handle. "You don't know anything about him." She hissed, turning her attention back to the fight. "I'd like to see what you would do if you were down there."

"Riko-chan..." Rin began.

"Rin, please just...just hold my hand." Riko asked, not taking her eyes off the fight again. Rin nodded and placed her hand over her friend's hand that had a death grip on the railing. "If you believe in him, so do I." Rin added.

"Thank you." Riko replied.

"There is no point being naive about the situation." Kakashi piped in. "Gai is seriously outmatched in this fight."

Riko felt her heart tear in two different directions over hearing the comment and decided to just grip the railing tighter.

Gai stood up from his kneeling position and took a deep breath. He crossed his arms over his face and began the necessary preparations. "Eight Celestial Gates: Initial Gate...Kai!" He said.

"What are you doing now?" Tekka growled. "You can't honestly expect to still win this do you?"

Gai smiled a little to himself. "I have this cool new saying I've been working on recently. I think it's very appropriate right now: 'The lotus of the leaf blooms twice!'"

The students in the stadium continued to stare down at him. "What did he just say?" Rin asked.

"What's he doing going on about lotuses?" Obito added in.

"The lotus blooms twice huh? Are you broken? I must have hit you harder than I thought." Tekka replied, positioning himself to go on the assault again.

The air suddenly changed around Gai and he looked up from his position, still being sure to avoid eye contact. "No. You have done all you can. I am ending this now." He said, and like that, he vanished.

Tekka looked around frantically. Where had he gone? His eyes flashed crimson, as he tried to sense out the enemy. There was no way Gai could get past his eyes...or so he thought.

"What just happened?" Riko demanded, searching the arena just as frantically as Tekka. It was as if Gai had vanished into thin air.

"That son of a bitch!" Hissed Misaki when she realized what Gai had just done. She slammed her hands down on the railing as she shook with rage. Misaki then quickly turned on her heal and ran for the upper stadium.

"Where is she going? She's going to miss the fight!" Obito shouted up to his sensei.

"Then it's best you keep your eyes on the fight so you don't miss it too." Minato replied, drawing the student's attention away from his friend's outburst.

Before Tekka could so much as take another breath, a foot collided with the side of his head. He went tumbling down hard onto the ground. Before he could barely stand up he felt himself being lifted into the air and tossed across the arena. What was happening? This couldn't be possible. His eyes should be able to keep up.

"I know what you're thinking." Gai said, before swiftly upper cutting his opponent. "How can I be losing?"

Another set of hard punches and jabs landed in his gut. "Let me tell you why." He said now positioned behind him as he undid the bandages on his arms. "It's true you are more naturally talented than me. Very few people can compete with the Sharingan."

Tekka spun violently on his heel, throwing a kunai behind him at the same time, but Gai was gone before it even left his hand. He reappeared once again in front of him. Gai swung his leg far behind him and sent Tekka up into the air with a swift kick. He then leapt up behind him, tying his arm band to Tekka's wrist. Gai then threw another punch into his back, causing him to drift away from him and back towards the ground while still connected by the bandage. "But I am the ninja, that has surpassed you...by believing in his hard work!" he said as the band tensed between them. "Hokuto no Ken!" He shouted, drawing his free hand into a tight fist by his side. He then tugged on the fabric connecting them, causing Tekka to shoot back at him like a sling shot. He then landed his free fist into Tekka's stomach with as much force as he could muster.

The Uchiha let out a cry of pain as his stomach temporarily caved in from the force. Blood spurt from his mouth from the trauma and he fell hard to the ground. Gai landed beside him gently, maintaining his composure until he was sure the fight was over. Tekka lay motionless on the ground beside him. The moderator ran over quickly and examined the boy. He then stood up and grabbed Gai by the arm. "Medical nin to the arena floor immediately. Maito Gai, winner by technical knockout." He said, lifting Gai's arm into the air.

The arena erupted into a sea of shouting and cheers. The match really was over.

Gai took a deep breath and released his technique. He braced for the expected side effects. The painful heat coursed through his body causing him to tilt forward and grab at his gut sllightly. He grunted in response but held together his composure.

Kinji stared down from the hokage's personal booth with a glint in his eye.

"Well I'll be damned, he won." Hiruzen said softly.

Kinji placed his arms across his chest and gave the Hokage an indignant look. "Well of course he won. You think I'd waste my time with some idiot that couldn't win a match in the finals?" He huffed.

"I have to say Kinji, that boy certainly has some talent." Hiruzen commented. The two older men shared brief smile, but were quickly interrupted by the commotion within the lounge of their viewing area.

"Let me past!" Shrieked a female voice from behind them. Kinji and Hiruzen both turned around in their chairs to see the strawberry blonde now contending with the poor entrance guard.

"Please Mam; you can't just barge in here and..." He began to explain.

"Don't you ever call me mam!" She began to argue, but quickly refocused back on her initial mission. "You know what? I don't have time for this." She muttered. She quickly drew her chakra to her palms and landed several taps on the young man's chest and legs, effectively paralyzing him. The poor ninja stood motionless before teetering over and crashing to the ground. "Why does no one take me seriously?" he whined from the floor.

Misaki stormed over the poor guard and into the room. She marched over to Kinji's chair and positioned herself directly in front of him with her arms on her hips. "What gives you the right to teach that boy such a dangerous technique?" She shouted.

"Storm Cloud..." He began.

"Just because I asked you to train him that does not give you the right to give him a death sentence! He is MY student, you understand? MINE! He is mine to protect and if you think I'm going to allow him to see you again after this stunt you better-"

"Storm Cloud!" Kinji snapped, causing the young woman to stop in mid sentence. "You should know by now I am far from a foolish man. Turn around." He ordered calmly. He drew a horizontal circle in the air with his index finger for emphasis.

Misaki turned around and looked down at the arena floor. Her eyes widened. He was a little beaten up, but Gai was most certainly alive and still standing. In fact, he was the only one standing "He...he used it and won?" She asked.

"Your over reaction to my decision prevented you from seeing the whole fight. Storm Cloud, he did a splendid job." Kinji said, leaning forward and patting the Jonin on the back as she stood their motionless.

"He has grown a great deal from the enthusiastic kid with no talent in the academy." The Hokage added in. "You should be proud Misaki. Continue to watch over him and train him well. He could grow to be quite the influence on this village."

Misaki turned her attention back to the scene below. She now began to realize just how much her students had grown. They had each won their battles today in their own way.

"Congratulation Maito Gai. You should visit the medical bay for treatment while the judges review their decisions." The moderator suggested.

Gai nodded slightly and exited the arena floor. He peered over his shoulder as he left, looking at Tekka, now under the care of a medical ninja. There was a brief guilty tinge in his heart that he may have over done it a little. Then he recalled how Tekka had mercilessly tortured his precious friend and felt the concern evaporate. He had battled fairly and with honour, there was nothing to feel sorry about. "Gai-san!" one of the medical ninjas called after him. "Allow me to take you to the medical bay at the hospital for treatment!"

Gai turned back to the ninja and waved his hand. "I'll be alright. I didn't come this far to be carried out of the arena." He gave a smile and thumbs up before continuing on his way.

Gai entered the hallway and started heading for the exit. He was limping a little from the pain but was managing on his own. It wasn't long until his fellow students from the academy were chasing behind him. "Gai!" Riko cried out as she and Rin followed after him. Gai turned around just as she crashed into him and wrapped him in a hug.

"You're okay!" She said, giving him a hug.

Gai cried out in pain as he felt the muscles in his side rip further. "HIIIYA!"

Riko immediately let go. "What's wrong?" She asked eyes full of concern.

Rin immediately came to Gai's side and ran her hands along the green clad ninja's ribs. Her eyes widened in horror. "Gai-kun!" She chastised. "You shouldn't even be walking right now. Not only do you have cracked ribs, but you've created some pretty serious tears in the major muscle groups of your body!"

Gai waved her off as he had the medical ninja. "I'm fine really. I just need to get to the hospital." He said.

Rin immediately ran in front of him blocking his way. "As a future medical professional, I cannot allow that. You need to be carried or you will risk further tearing."

"It's not that bad." Gai said, giving her a thumbs up and smiling through another wince. He tried to take step, but could not hide the pain he was in as another sharp heat moved through his legs.

Rin shook her head. "I swear, you and your team are all so stubborn, it's amazing you're not all dead." She then turned to Riko. "Riko-chan, help me carry him to the hospital."

Riko nodded and took his arm. Gai attempted to whine. "Riko-chan, please, it's so uncool to be carried to the hospital!"

"You did it to me, now I'm returning the favour, so shut up!" She snapped. Rin slipped under his other arm and the two kunoichi slowly walked him to the hospital. Gai was immediately treated for his injuries. Since he had only opened the first gate, most of the wounds were easily treated and he was up and walking again quite quickly, though he was advised to take it easy for the rest of the day.

Gai, Rin and Riko all exited the hospital together. They had planned on visiting Koji first, but they had overheard a villager speaking in the waiting room that the judges had already come to their decisions.

"That was fast." Rin commented.

"It would be better if we go find out the results and then come tell the news to Koji, right Gai?" Riko asked.

Gai nodded, but was only half listening. He was too eager to find out who his next fight was with. The three jogged back to the arena only to find all their friends huddled outside staring at some papers on the wall.

"What's going on?" Asked Gai.

"The tournament is over. The judges have determined the new Chuunins and won't be having second rounds." Obito said, smiling broadly.

"That's not fair! I want another chance to fight!" Whined Gai. "That wasn't nearly enough time to prove myself!"

Obito gave him a quizzical look. "You took on one of the top student's your age. What do you want now? To take on the Hokage?"

"That's an option?" Gai asked in surprise.

"I'm not even going to respond to that." Obito sighed.

"Really? No second rounds?" Riko added in, just as surprised there would be no more testing.

Obito shook his head, and started smiling like an idiot again. "Nope, apparently they saw enough. And I made the cut!" He cheered. He then turned to the silver hair Chuunin beside him. "Bite on that!"

Kakashi simply rolled his eyes and walked over to the wall to lean on it. Obito decided not to push it any further. "Guess what Rin? You made it too!"

Rin's eyes widened in awe. "Really?" She asked.

"Congratulations!" Riko said, giving her friend a hug.

Gai now roughly pushed through the crowds, getting glares from the other viewers. "Let me see! Let me see!" He cried. He finally reached the front of the group and started to read. The graduates were organized by village and he quickly found Konoha and both Obito and Rin's names. He became even more excited when he saw the names that followed.

This year's Chuunin Konoha graduates:

Kienso, Riko

Maito, Gai

"I...I did it." He stuttered to himself. "I did it!" He screamed, causing the rest of the group to fall back slightly to avoid the impromptu victory dance. "I did it! I did it! Woo hoo!"

"Calm down Gai, you are making a scene!" Hissed Riko as she manoeuvred through the slowly thinning crowd and reached his side.

"But Riko-chan...You made it as well." He replied, pausing in mid dance and pointing at the sheet.

"I...I did?" She said with a dubious look on her face. She looked at where he was pointing to be sure. To the shock and horror of her friend Rin, Riko joined into the dancing. "We did it! We did it!" The two laughed and hopped around.

"You two sure are making fools of yourself." Kakashi piped up from his lone section of wall.

Riko immediately stopped and shifted to a deep shade of red out of embarrassment.

"There is nothing wrong with a little youthful excitement Kakashi. This is truly a time to celebrate!" Gai argued.

"Such displays of emotion are contrary to the way of the ninja. Especially when it's not deserved." He replied matter-of-factly.

"Not deserved?" Gai replied.

"I can see why some of the ninjas made it through this year, but I can't even contemplate why they let you through." Kakashi said. "You are loud, you are emotional, your tactics are blunt at best and you lack the subtly of a ninja. I'm not even sure you take this whole thing seriously. It's like it's a game to you or something. Your name should not be up there...ever."

Gai felt his heart sink into his feet. Even after making it as a Chuunin he was still not being acknowledged. He hung his head slightly.

Kakashi continued on with his lecture, failing to notice the kunoichi smoking at the ears not far by. "That's enough you pompous jackass!" She screamed as did the unthinkable.

"No way!" Obito said. "Did you...did you just sucker punch him in the mouth?"

"Riko-chan..." Rin murmured as she stared at the silver haired boy now lying on the ground looking stunned.

Riko was still so mad she was shaking. "You...you think you are so much better than everyone else." She said her voice cracking as she spoke. "And you know what? I really believed it for a long time too."

Kakashi brushed the front of his mask and noted the slight red tinge on his wrist...she's hit him so hard she'd drawn blood.

"I can't believe I had a crush on you!" She snapped. "You...you don't care about anyone but yourself and your freaking opinions!"

She then tried to stand a little taller. She could feel her knees shaking while she spoke. It was like watching herself run off a cliff and there was nothing she could do about it but watch it happen. "I can't continue to have a crush on someone who speaks ill of their own comrades. It's just wrong."

Kakashi simply shrugged as he got back to his feet. "You let your feelings get in the way and you'll get killed sooner than him."Kakashi replied. "Come on Rin...Obito. Sensei will be waiting for us."

Rin and Obito followed after him, not before Obito quickly turned and grabbed Riko by the hands. "That was really cool Riko." He whispered and then ran off to catch up with his team. Riko stood motionless, taking in the sight of Rin and her teammates walking away. Kakashi briefly looked over his shoulder at the young girl still shaking in her boots while Gai attempted break her from her trance but then turned his attention back ahead of him.

The remaining students began to drift away slowly, leaving Riko and Gai standing in silence. Riko took in a deep ragged breath as the nauseating feeling of regret started to come over her. While she most certainly still had feelings for Kakashi, she had just effectively punched any shot she had with him right in the face. She tried to comfort herself in the fact she wasn't really supposed to be pursuing him anyways. She'd actually really been surprised by her outburst. Maybe it was the emotional rollercoaster they'd all just been through that had made her raw, but Kakashi's words had just hit the wrong nerve. She let out a deep sigh before speaking. "Come on Gai, we'd better turn around and go back to the hospital to see Koji."

When she noticed her teammate wasn't following her she turned to look at him. She felt a little uncomfortable with what she saw. Gai was tearing up worse than she had ever seen before. "Ri...Riko-chan." He whimpered. "First a spontaneous hug and now you are defending me over your crush...you really do like me!" He cried and began running toward her to embrace her.

Riko's eyes widened. "It's not like that!" She cried before taking off in a mad dash in the other direction. Oh sweet mother what had she done?

"Riko-chan! You don't have to be shy with me!" He shouted after her.

"Get away from me!" She screamed.

It wasn't long before they reached the hospital entrance. Riko stormed in the front door, leaving a sheepish Gai to follow her in while nursing his head. "Riko-chan, I know girls sometimes play hard to get, but round house kicking a man in the head is a little much."

"I am NOT playing hard to get! Now drop it!" She shouted.

"Shhhh!" The front attendant hissed. Riko nervously waved and continued down the hallway while keeping her eyes sharp that Gai was making no further advances. Gai seemed to have dropped the subject and was now following casually by her side. "So what do you think we should tell him?" She asked.

"We should just tell him the good news!" Gai replied without much thought.

"You really don't think the subtleness of situations through do you? It may be good news for us, but what about him? He didn't graduate with us." She pointed out.

"Well then...I guess we'll just have to see how he's doing and decide from there." He suggested.

They finally reached the door and slid it open. "Koji? We're here to visit you. "Gai said sliding the door open. He looked in the room and was surprised to see the bed vacated. "Where is he?"

A nurse frantically came running in the room behind them. "Oh goodness, I thought maybe he had returned." She said.

"Where is Koji?" Riko asked.

"He's been missing for about an hour." The woman replied.

"What? Why would he leave?" Gai said in surprise. "He was very badly injured."

"That's what we are worried about. He's not done his treatments yet. He'd asked to be left alone after hearing the results of the fights and graduates from one of the interns. We thought he was just sleeping, but it seems he took off out the window." She explained.

"See what I mean Gai? He's probably upset!" Riko said. She turned her attention to the nurse. "Inform our sensei immediately." She turned to Gai. "Gai, I'll head south from the hospital and check his house and the monuments and you head north and check the training grounds. We'll cover as much as we can and if you come across anyone that can help us look, get them to join in."

Gai nodded and the two took off out of the hospital with mad speed in search of their friend. Gai could feel the blood rushing through his muscles as he sprinted through the streets. He was still a little tender, but the medical ninjas had done wonders with him and it was tolerable. Koji was far too important right now to be concerned with a little muscle ache. He took a sharp turn and dashed down a side street, then made a b-line for the training grounds. He was almost at full tilt when he sensed a chakra signature hiding in the trees. Perhaps Koji? He stopped dead in his tracks and walked over to the pulsing chakra hiding in the bushes. He divided the foliage with his hands, only to find a slightly startled ninja staring back at him.

"What do you want?" He asked nonchalantly.

"What are you doing back here Kakashi?" Gai asked.

The masked boy quickly tucked the item in his hands behind his back before speaking. "My sensei ordered me to take some personal time." He replied. "Now please leave me alone."

Kakashi had tried not to draw attention to it, but he had been to slow putting the item away for Gai not to identify it. "Is that Icha Icha Paradise?" He asked.

Kakashi maintained his composure as best he could. "It's none of your business." He answered.

"Where did you get it? I thought it was just for adults." He replied. He'd seen the book a number of times in his father's study and had nearly been beaten within an inch of his life by his mother when he'd tried to examine it.

"It's none of your business why I have it or why I'm reading it. Now go away." Kakashi said, turning his head. He wasn't easily stirred up, but the whole conversation was starting to make him a little uncomfortable.

"Now Kakashi, there is no need to be embarrassed. My father taught me all about the things in that book." Gai explained.

"You don't say..." Kakashi replied, still trying to give Gai the hint to leave him alone.

Gai took no such hint and nodded vigorously. "Oh yes. I know all about sexual tension and sexual curiosity. It is a very healthy thing. Why we should all be more sexually curious like you Kakashi! It's good for young boys to let it out!" He said, his voice getting far too loud for the silver haired ninja's comfort.

"Will you cut that out? Someone is going to hear you!" He hissed, eyes darting back and forth to ensure no one else was around.

"Did you not have to take sex education at the academy? You did graduate very young. Perhaps you graduated before that class." He mused.

"For the love of—what do I have to do to get you to leave me alone?" Kakashi half whined.

"I'm trying to find Koji. He's gone missing." Gai explained.

"Not my concern." Kakashi said, now pulling the book out from behind him. There was no sense hiding it anymore and he propped it open and began to read.

"That book really has you hooked huh? My dad told me people that are too sexually curious go bli—" Gai continued but was roughly cut off.

"Alright!" Kakashi's voice snapped in time with the booked clapping shut. "I will help you, but you have to promise to leave me alone and never speak about this topic with me ever again."

"Thank you Kakashi! It's most appreciated. Come on, I was just about the check the training grounds." He said.

Kakashi waved his hands. "I have a better idea." He replied. He stood up and tucked the book away in his pocket. He then formed the necessary summoning seals and slammed his hand to the ground. In place of the sudden smoke, a little dog appeared. Kakashi looked down at the dog. "Do you have something that belongs to Koji?" Kakashi asked Gai.

Gai reached into his suit and pulled out a kunai. "Koji borrowed this one during a sparring match." He explained as he handed it over. Kakashi took a kunai and held it out to the little dog. "Honzo, find Koji." He ordered. The little dog sniffed the blade and began to wag his tail. He then took off into the trees, braking behind him to leave a trail. "Follow him." Kakashi ordered.

The two young boys ran through the forest together trying to keep up with the little dog. The dog finally came to a screeching halt near a clearing which led into one of the training fields. Sure enough, there he was. Koji was beating away at a practice post, oblivious to the people that had just shown up. He took several more swings, the sweat beating rapidly down on his face. His mild expression got more intense with every blow until finally he let out an angry scream and came crashing down to the ground after a kick. He sat on the ground shaking.

Gai turned to the boy beside him. "Thank you again Kakashi."

The boy nodded and pulled the book back out of his pocket to start reading. "Sure thing." He replied.

Gai leaned over to Kakashi one last time and whispered. "And don't worry; your secret urges are safe with me."

Kakashi's eye twitched. "You have it all wrong! It's just a book!" He cried out, his face now becoming visibly redder despite being mostly covered by fabric.

Gai ran over shouting Koji's name. Koji looked up at him with an empty stare. He got back to his feet and continued swinging. "What do you want?" He asked.

"Everyone is really worried about you. You need to go back to the hospital." Gai demanded.

"So what? I can read all about my Chuunin teammates in the paper? Thanks I'll pass." He said.

"You're still sick Koji; you're never going to get better if you keep doing this." Gai argued.

"And will I get better if I just go lay in bed?" He snapped, turning to face his teammate. "I'm supposed to be someone. I'm supposed to be a Chuunin now. My family, my clan, they were counting on me. I believed I could do it because I was a Hyuuga and look what happened. I made a total ass out of myself!" He turned back to the post and started hitting it again. "Tell me Gai, if you were in my situation, what would you do?"

Gai walked over to the other post silently as he pondered his response. He had been so focused on recovering his ill teammate he hadn't even considered what the results of the exams would be like for him. "Probably the same thing you are doing right now." He replied.

Koji stopped in mid swing, surprised by Gai's answer. "You would?" He asked.

Gai nodded. "Yep, I'd be pretty pissed if I hadn't become a Chuunin today and you had." He then looked directly into Koji's eyes. "But it would only make me work harder so I could really kick your ass later. Maybe instead of trying to be better because of your clan, you should try being better because you want to be better. That's what works for me." Gai said, putting his thumb to his chest while he smiled.

Koji held his place for a moment taking in his teammate's words. Slowly a small smirk crossed his face. "So then why don't you help me work harder so I can kick YOUR ass later? That is...unless you are afraid." He asked.

Gai grinned at him. "Never. It's a deal teammate!" He said, giving him a smile and thumbs up.

Koji shuddered a little. "You really have no idea how creepy that is, do you?"

"What?"

"Never mind. Let's just train." He said, turning his attention back to the post. The two began synchronizing their kicks into the posts in front of them, taking turns calling out moves and then performing them.

Kakashi looked over his book slightly. His mask also crinkled slightly from a little smile. "They really are a weird team." He murmured to himself.

"Yes...but there are my team." Misaki chimed in as she appeared behind him.

Kakashi didn't really react but continued to watch over the book. "Are you going to stop them? He's going to collapse soon."

"Then I'll let him collapse. He'll be easier to carry unconscious than kicking and screaming. Beside, the dose of poison left in him isn't lethal anymore, just draining slightly." She then peered over the Chuunin's shoulder. "Is that...Icha Icha Paradise?" She asked, lifting her eyebrow's a little.

Kakashi's eyes widened in horror. He'd made a very tragic error. Reading the book in front of Gai had made him too comfortable and he'd forgotten the forbidden quality of it being in his hands. Misaki instantly plucked it from his grasp and hung it over his head while she spoke. "Really Kakashi, I had higher expectations of you." She chide.

"It's...it's not what you think! Really, I NEED that book. It's for a...a...a jutsu Minato-sensei is teaching me!" He demanded, reaching up for the book now dangling too far above his head.

"That is the WORST excuse I have ever heard. My cat can lie better than you." She laughed.

"Please, just let me finish this chapter. It's getting so good!"

"No."

"How about the page I was on?"

"No!"

"What about the part I already read? If it's damaged me it's already too late now."

"For crying out loud: NO!"

END OF CHAPTER 18

He had to get busted eventually. (Evil grin). Hoping to update again soon. Thank you to all that are still reading this. I know it must be frustrating having to wait so long.


	19. Chapter 19 Friends and Rivals

The History of Konoha's Noble Green Beast

CHAPTER 19

"Thank you for your business. Please come again soon!" Riko shouted after the happy customer as he walked out the door. She maintained her cheerful smile until she finally heard the door of the shop click shut. Once she was sure the coast was clear she put her arms on the counter and placed her head on top of them. "So...bored." She groaned.

That one customer had been the highlight of the day. Probably because he had been the ONLY customer of the day. "Why is it so freaking slow?" She grumbled into the wooden counter top. Normally she didn't mind working in the shop, but when there was nothing to do, it was short of unbearable.

"I see it's about as interesting up here as it is in the back." Her father said, walking in from the storage room.

"I have reorganized the display racks five times father. Five times! First I did it alphabetical, than by weight, then by damage range, then reverse alphabetical, then by date of forging...if I do it one more time, I think I may actually go crazy." She whined as she buried her face back into her arms.

Her father responded with a chuckle and a gentle pat on the back. "Your help is still appreciated as always. Slow days happen sometimes little Riko. Who knows, it may pick up yet."

She tossed her head back in frustration. "Please don't call me little Riko father. I haven't been little in a very long time."

Her father chuckled again and scratched the back of his head. "I guess I just can't picture you as anything else my dear."

"So how are things in the back?" She asked, trying to change the subject.

Her father's face instantly transformed from cheerful to one similar to her own. "So boring!" He whined. "I swear if we don't get something to do soon I'm going to..."

Before he could finish his sentence, the little bell above the entrance door gave a pleasant jingle.

"Welcome to the Armoury!" Riko and her father shouted in unison, startling the poor girl that had just walked in.

"Geeze!" Anko said, clutching her chest with wide eyes. "Is this some sort of new sales tactic?"

"Oh, sorry Anko-chan...Slow day. I'll take care of this one dad." Riko said. Her father nodded and headed for the back of the shop. "What can I do for you today?" Riko asked.

"I don't really need anything in particular. Just give me a medium pack of kunai for today. I'm heading out of town for a while and wanted to come by to say goodbye before I left." Anko explained. She moved the dango stick dangling from her mouth from one side to the other as she examined some of the wares on the counter.

"Really? For how long?" Riko asked as she fished under the counter for the requested pack of kunai.

Anko shrugged her shoulders. "Not sure actually. Orochimaru-sensei says he has some special work he wishes to do in the Sea Country and he wants me to assist him." She explained. The little girl looked positively thrilled at the notion that the great Sannin had asked her to go on this journey with him. "I'm not supposed to tell a lot of people about it, but you're a good friend and I'm just so excited about it I had to tell someone. You won't say anything right Riko-chan?"

Riko gave a nod, though making the promise made her feel a tad uncomfortable. While she highly respected Orochimaru's skills from the stories she had heard about him, she had only seen him from afar and he really was quite creepy in her eyes. "Be sure to come back safe." Riko said, finally locating the pack of kunai.

"Pfft." Anko responded giving her hand a wave. "You worry almost as bad as Rin-chan. You two clearly spend too much time together. I will be fine. In fact, working directly with sensei, I should come back one hundred times stronger. I can't wait!" She said, pumping her fists with enthusiasm.

Riko handed over the kunai Anko had requested with a smile. "There is nothing wrong with worrying about the people you care about, so come back safe." Riko replied with a smile.

Anko gave her a nod. "No worries. I'll see you soon I promise. Bye Riko!" Anko said, before running out the door.

Riko's tried her best to continue smiling, but couldn't ignore the tugging in her gut. Something just felt off about the whole situation. She knew from the off handed comments her Sensei had made that Orochimaru was under watch by the Hokage for Anko's behaviour during the exams, but if Anko thought it was okay, it was probably fine. Anko never jumped into situations without analyzing them closely first.

"What was that all about?" Her father asked, coming back into the room.

"Nothing." Riko replied, "Just a friend saying goodbye before a mission." She stared out the window as Anko disappeared from sight.

Meanwhile outside, another young ninja was preparing to enter the shop.

He stared at his reflection in the window of another nearby store.

_Alright Gai..._he said to himself. _Keep it cool. Casual-like. Think, what would Kakashi do...what would Koji do... _

He adjusted his hair slightly in the reflection and smiled at himself. _You can do this. You cannot let such a great opportunity for quality time with Riko-chan pass by. _

He took in a deep breath and started to march towards the shop. The little bell above the door gave another pleasant jingle and Riko reacted to her conditioned reflex. "Welcome to the Armoury! What can I do for you today?" She said with her over the top customer service smile.

"Good day Riko-chan!" Gai said, bright-eyed as ever. "How are things in the shop today?"

"Riko my dear." Her father replied, looking a tad disappointed. "I don't normally mind personal visits, but this is the second one in a row. It might start interrupting our business."

Riko turned to her father with an irritated look. "What business? The only customer you have spent time with today is the cat you keep feeding that hangs around the shop. Which, mom asked you to stop feeding by the way." Riko demanded.

"You expect me to let such a cute little kitty starve?" Her father replied nervously scratching the back of his head.

"Starve? That cat is huge! Plus it has a bow on it; it clearly belongs to someone and is already being fed!" She snapped back.

"Please don't be mad at Riko-chan, Sir. I really am a customer today." Gai interrupted.

"You are?" Riko asked turning to him with a dubious look.

Gai gave a nod. "Yes. Since Misaki-sensei is busy training Kakashi, I thought it would be a good opportunity to start on my weapons training with you!" He pumped his fists by his sides for emphasis. "It will be splendid being trained by such a beautiful weapons expert!"

Riko nervously laughed to herself. She really wasn't in the mood for this today. "I'm sorry Gai, but I have to run the shop today. We are very busy." She then proceeded to grab some papers from behind the desk and shuffle through them as if their contents were of great importance.

Her father leaned over to her with a wry smile. "Don't worry Riko, you can go ahead and look after the customer. I will take care of the cat that's been keeping us oh so busy."

Riko's face paled slightly, she side stepped closer to her father and tugged on his shirt until he was level with her so she could whisper. "You don't understand father. This is THAT teammate I told you about. The one with all the um...er...ah...'enthusiasm'."

"Riko, I'm disappointed in you. He is still your teammate and potentially a good customer." Her father argued quietly so Gai would not hear. It didn't really matter though, since Gai was already perusing the store's weapon racks.

"Forget it. I will run the front of the shop as I was originally asked." She said as she crossed her arms in defiance.

"You know that is not necessary, I can run the front for you." He demanded.

"My customer service skills are better than yours." She shot back. "You cannot argue with that."

"What if I offer you additional pay?" He asked.

Riko thought about it. "Not good enough." She replied.

"Not good enough? We shouldn't even be discussing this. I am your father." He demanded back.

Riko turned to face her father fully now with a look of absolute determination. "1- that boy has the energy of a pack of twelve hyper active puppies. The energy required to train him would be at least three times the average student. 2- Training someone of Gai's nature, would ultimately be putting my reputation and popularity amongst my friends at risk. At my age, such things are critical. 3- I volunteered to work the front of the shop today as a favour after already working that rush last week while still managing my training schedule with my sensei."

"Well...well that may all be true." Her father stammered slightly. "But it still doesn't change the fact that I am your father and what I say goes."

Riko realized she was going to have to resort to more drastic measures. "4!" She continued, "You are not supposed to be feeding that cat outside and I know I saw you put a dish out this morning. I already cleaned it up for you so you would not get caught, so I suggest you offer me a better deal unless you want that dish to accidently get placed back out where mom will find it."

"Are you black mailing me?" He asked with an unimpressed stare.

"If my initial logic isn't good enough, I have no choice." She shrugged.

There was a brief pause as the two stared each other down. Ultimately, her father was the first to give.

"My my...you're turning into a tougher negotiator than your mother. Alright, alright. How about this: Additional pay, you don't have to work over the weekend of the flower festival so you can spend time with your friends AND I will finish that special blade you've been begging me to make for you by the end of the week. Deal?" He asked, holding out his hand.

Riko thought the offer over carefully and studied her teammate that was bouncing around the shop as he looked over all the weapons. Riko nodded and shook her father's hand. "You are a wise man father."

"Honey!" Came a shrill voice from the back. "Have you been feeding that cat? It's in the alley again!"

"Of course not dear." Her father shouted nervously to the back room.

Riko turned her attention to her teammate. "Alright Gai, let's get started with finding a weapon for you."

"Alright! I um...I mean, that's cool." He shrugged, trying to act casual. The act was very unnatural for him though and it came across more awkward than aloof. _Man I don't understand how those other boys can act like this all day!_

Riko slipped out from behind the counter and into the main portion of the shop. "For starters, we have to determine the best weapon for you."

"How do we do that?" He asked.

"That's what weapon specialists are for." Riko replied with a smile. "My father has been training me since I was very little to be able to identify the best weapon for a person right dad?"

Her father nodded. "Let's see what you can do Riko."

Riko turned proudly back to her customer. "Alright, stand up straight and stick your arms out from your sides." She said, demonstrating the action herself. Gai did as he was asked, stretching his arms out to his fullest wing span. Riko then proceeded to walk around him and study him up and down. "Normally I would ask you about your skills and strengths, but since we are teammates, I'm already familiar with your styles, so we can just skip that. You have a great deal of strength from all your training, so you could probably use a heavier weapon if there was a good match..." She commented, giving a gentle tug on one of his wrists, causing Gai to wobble a little.

Gai's eyes lit up. "How about that long sword on the wall?" Gai suggested pointing with his other hand. He remembered it from one of the first times he had come into the shop, though that had not ended well.

Riko looked over at the sword and then back at him. "Oh my goodness no. That wouldn't suit you at all." She replied. "While you are strong, your also specialize in taijutsu. Taijutsu users do better with closer range weapons. The weapon you are looking at is more for someone big and strong that is a little slower and wants to keep his targets at a greater distance. Such a weapon would only get in the way and slow you down."

"Very good Riko." Her father said proudly.

"Is there a different sword then maybe?" Gai asked. He really had his heart set on a blade.

Riko looked around the room and then came across a shorter and thinner sword. "Maybe this one." She replied. "If you really want to try a blade." She picked up the sword and carefully handed it the Gai. "What do you think?" She asked, placing her hands on her hips.

Gai jostled the sword in his hand a little, getting a feel for the weight. It was easy to manoeuvre but he was a little disappointed that he wasn't holding onto the larger sword on the wall. He began to swing it around a little. "Hey, I think this might work." He said, starting to get a feel for the weapon in his hand. His enthusiasm no longer being self monitored, he began to swing with more vigour.

"Gai, be careful. You are still in the shop and might..." She warned.

CRASH

"Damage something." Riko sighed, drooping her shoulders in disappointment.

"Eep." Gai replied dropping the sword out of embarrassment. He studied the newly created damage to the shelf.

"You!" Riko's father shouted and pointed at the poor boy with menacing accusation in his eyes. "You're the one that damaged my shop that time before! I'd recognize that little squeak noise you made anywhere!"

_Oh Crap..._

Riko's father was about to come around the counter and throttle the poor boy when Riko intervened. "Please father. It was an accident and none of the weapons were damaged in that incident so it's fine. Besides I'm sure he didn't mean to do it. Right Gai?"

"Yes, yes. Oh I am so sorry sir, really. My youthful spirit sometimes gets away from me." He explained bowing profusely.

"That's right. He's young. He makes mistakes. We all do. And it would be a shame to scare away our only major customer of the day now wouldn't it?" Riko asked.

Her father was clearly still agitated, but RIko's words appeared to be having an effect. "Fine." He grumbled. "But no more blades. In fact, pick something out and don't you dare hand it to him until he's out the door or in the backyard training. Got it?"

"Of course father. You are always so understanding." Riko said, making sure to spread on the compliments. She gave a little bow and waiting for her father to exit. She then turned and looked at the nervous boy behind her.

"You alright." She asked.

Gai nodded. "I'm fine. Your father is scary when he's mad. Lucky for me you have a way with words." He said, smiling a little.

"I've had a lot of practice from dealing with our team." She replied, picking the abandoned sword up off the floor. "So, blades are out." She returned the sword back to its proper resting place. "Don't worry though. There are lots of other great weapons in here. In fact, I think I know just the thing for you now!"

She motioned for Gai to follow her to a small corner of the shop. "I don't give a lot of these out, but that's because they take quite a bit of time to get good at using. But in the right hands, they can be more deadly than most blades."

"Really?" Gai said in awe as he tried to peer over her shoulder and get a look at what she was referring to. "What is it? What is it?" He asked excitedly.

"Here you are!" She said with a smile, handing them over.

"Nun chucks?" He asked, examining the pieces of chain and wood in his hands.

"Yep! This is definitely the weapon for you!" Riko replied with a vigorous nod.

Gai looked a little disappointed. "I'm being punished for damaging the shop aren't I?" He pouted a little.

"No Gai, not at all. Listen, this is a weapon few people can use properly. If you think about it it's really an ideal weapon for you. It requires a great deal of coordination and fast reflexes to use properly." She explained. She took one of the nun chucks from him and began to spin it. "If used properly, the nun chuck can alternate from attack, to defence, to disarming an opponent faster than most enemies can react. It also requires you to be able to handle close range battle, which is what you are best at. Just give them a chance and you might find you like them."

"Are you really sure about this?" Gai asked, studying the weapon. This was really not what he had envisioned for himself.

"We are teammates Gai. If I mislead you, not only would it be bad for business, but I'd be putting my whole team in harm's way." She assured him.

"Alright then." He said, grabbing the other nun chuck from her. "Let's get started with the training then!"

Before Gai could lift the nun chucks further, Riko plucked them back from him. "Let's just wait until we are outside shall we? I doubt I can calm my father down twice in a row." She smiled. She grabbed a second set from the shelf for herself and led Gai through the back of the shop and out into the training yard.

"We often have people come here to train when they are starting off with a weapon. I'll run you through some basic drills today so you will be able to do some work on your own." She explained as they walked out into the open training space.

The yard was large and fully enclosed by surrounding buildings and fences. There were rafters running from the back of the shop and connecting to the building behind them creating a pergola that shaded the yard. The rafters had climbing vines growing all over them, making the yard seem fresh despite being surrounded by concrete. The yard itself was full of various targets, boards and dummies that were fairly well beaten. Gai's eyes scrolled around the yard and then landed on the only other person back there. "What are you doing here?" Gai asked.

"Training. What's it look like Fuzzy Eyebrows?" Koji replied, planting the staff in his hand into the ground.

"Oh, Koji. I didn't realize you were still back here." Riko said, placing the weapons in her hand onto a ledge on the back of the building.

"I was starting to get a handle on that new counter attack you showed me this morning so I decided to keep going." He explained.

"What? You have been having secret rendezvous at Riko-chan's house? How long has this been going on?" Gai demanded.

"It's not like that Gai." Riko began.

"Several months now." Koji cut in with a grin.

"Oh my god!" Gai cried out, his eyes wide and mouth hanging open. He then turned his back on his teammates as he shook with inner rage. _I can't believe that jerk has been sneaking around behind my back like that. Well played my advisory, but I will not be beaten so easily._

"You just had to say that didn't you?" Riko sighed.

Koji tried to feign innocence as best he could. "I have no idea what you are talking about."

"Whatever. Gai, please try to move on before the sun sets so we can get to training." She said, to his back. She was really starting to think she should have bargained for more from her father.

Gai tried his best to calm down. Half muttering to himself about challenges and battles as he stalked over to the weapons on the ledge and took the pair selected for him.

"Very good. Now, let's start with just getting a feel for the weapon. Start with a figure eight, just so you get a sense of the weight of the weapon." She explained, showing him the motion. Gai followed suit.

"Yes, don't advance him too quickly. That brain of his is pretty delicate when it comes to learning you know." Koji grinned.

"What did you say!" Gai snapped, not paying attention to the nun chuck and proceeding to hit himself in the shoulder. "Ow!"

Koji snorted. "See, you're already advancing too quickly with him."

"Say that again I dare you!" Gai shouted back at him.

"What's wrong? Too many syllables in that last sentence for you?" Koji asked as he leaned his weight onto the staff.

"And here I thought you two were starting to get along better." Riko sighed, stepping between the pair. "Koji, you have been doing very well with that staff and I don't want to discourage your training, but if you keep aggravating Gai, I'm going to have to ask you to leave or I will never get through this training."

Gai crossed his arms proudly over his chest. "Yeah Koji. Why don't you take off?"

"And leave you alone with Riko? Not a chance. I'm sorry Riko, I'll keep my words to myself." He said and went back to practicing his back strikes on the other side of the yard.

Riko turned her attention back to Gai. "And you! Stop letting him get under your skin so easily. He only does it because he knows he can get to you."

"But he's just so arrogant sometimes it makes my blood boil." Gai growled slightly.

"So blow off your steam with the training. Focus!" She argued.

Gai went back to doing the figure eights as before. Once he was comfortable, she moved on to striking and defence. "All weapons are just an extension of the body." She explained, holding out the nun chuck. "So for example, if you are going to punch someone, the nun chuck just becomes an extension of your arm as you punch." She demonstrated an upper cut and then the same motion with the nun chuck. "You can also use them as a defence if you move your grip up further on the handle." She adjusted her grip so the nun chuck was now flush with her forearm. "Once you get good at handling the weapon, you can alternate between offensive stances and defensive ones just as quickly as you would with your bare hands."

Gai followed the instructions. The training went on for a few more hours, until Riko noticed the sun starting to cast a shadow into the yard. "Alright." She said. "That's enough for today. Go home and work on it and we'll try again tomorrow."

Gai nodded, casting a brief glare at the Hyuuga still sitting in the yard. He had really hoped to have time alone with Riko, but Koji had suddenly felt the urge to train longer and hung around. Gai muttered slightly to himself and made sure to leave the same time as Koji. "Good night Riko-chan." Gai said.

"Good night both of you." She replied. Koji gave her a brief nod and then headed out the door along with Gai.

The next morning Gai was eager to get back to training. Today he would finally have Riko all to himself! He ran down the street and into the shop only to be seriously disappointed.

"No way!" He screamed.

"Good morning Gai." Riko said, a little wide eyed. "Isn't it a little early to be screaming at people?"

"Morning Fuzzy Eyebrows." Koji said, as he popped the last of his breakfast into his mouth.

"Koji brought breakfast this morning for us before we start training." Riko explained. She reached into the box and pulled out a ball of sticky rice wrapped in a lotus leaf for him. "Isn't that nice of him?" She said with a smile. Riko held it out to him; hoping this act of good will on Koji's behalf would appease the boy enough to prevent a fight so early in the morning.

"You're always going on about lotuses so I made sure yours was specially wrapped." Koji replied, a slightly mischievous smirk on his face. "Don't want you going hungry if we're going to be in the back training ALL DAY."

"What? Why are you still training here?" Gai demanded.

"Gai, this shop is open to everyone and if Koji wishes to train I thought you would be the first person to encourage it. You are always pushing us to train more." Riko argued.

"Yes...but...but." He whimpered. It appeared his hopes to spend time alone with Riko were once again being dashed. _That white eyed bastard is just doing this to torture me! Clearly this is much more than just a childish prank. If he wants to compete with me for Riko's affections, I will gladly accept!_

"I accept Koji!" Gai shouted.

The room went silent for a moment. "Accept what?" Koji asked, clearly not on the same inner wave length as Gai.

Gai realized his words lacked context and decided it was best to cover it up for now. This would be his and Koji's secret battle for Riko's affections. "I uh...I accept the breakfast you offer!" He said and took the rice ball from Riko's hand. "Yes. You are a good comrade, looking after all of us like this." He popped the rice ball into his mouth whole and swallowed it with a satisfied smile. "Delicious!" He shouted.

"Wow, you ate that fast." Riko commented.

"Wrong Riko-chan. I ate that with enthusiasm!" He corrected her.

"Dumbass, you're not supposed to eat the leaf too. It's for fragrance." Koji said shaking his head.

Gai was no longer listening though and began to head for the back of the shop laughing to himself. "Come Riko! Let us get back to our training! No sense wasting our youth up here!"

Gai's teammates followed him into the back in uncomfortable silence.

The remainder of the day went on without much incident. There was a brief scuffle in the yard while Riko went into the shop to make lunch for the team. Apparently there had been an argument about something neither boy was willing to explain to her. She had put a swift end to it though by nailing the two boys in the head with the dangos she had picked up across the street for them as a special dessert.

"You are both doing quite well with your weapons." Riko commented as she took another bite of her lunch. "I just wish you two wouldn't fight so much."

"He started it!" Gai argued.

"Oh, very mature Gai." Koji drawled.

"Stop it!" Riko snapped. "Do you two know how silly you sound?"

"Sorry Riko-chan." Gai replied.

"Yeah, sorry." Koji added.

"There really is no sense in you two fighting unless it's productive. Seriously! Unless our lives are on the line or there is a critical decision to be made, it's a waste of fresh air!" She continued to explain. "I don't want to be known as the team that fights like cats and dogs.

"I suppose that would look pretty bad." Gai said, acknowledging her point.

"I'd rather not have my reputation wrecked either." Koji added.

"Good. Than knock it off!" Riko said, going back to her meal.

"You're starting to sound a little like sensei Riko-chan." Gai smiled as he took another bite of his own lunch.

"I hope that's a good thing. How do you think she's doing anyways?" Riko asked.

"Training that bratty kid Kakashi you mean?" Koji sneered to himself.

"He's not a brat Koji. I think he would make an excellent adversary." Gai replied.

"Really? After what he said about you?" Koji remarked a little surprised. He'd been filled in on all the juicy details by Obito the day after the incident outside the arena. Riko blushed slightly remembering her behaviour. "He might as well have just called you a loser."

Gai shrugged it off. "Kakashi is entitled to his opinions about me. He just doesn't understand me because of how different we are." He took another bite of his meal. "Just you wait though, some day, I'll become way stronger and defeat him in an honourable battle of skills. Then he will have to acknowledge me for the great ninja I am!"

"You've got a long way to go if you ever want to beat a genius like that!" Koji smirked, leaning back against the wall of building and pushing his empty tray aside. "What takes you months to achieve, takes him half as much time to do and with a whole lot less effort."

"Then I'll just have to work twice as hard...no...THREE times harder in order to pass him!" Gai said excitedly.

"It doesn't work like that." Koji replied.

"Of course it does. It's basic math. He improves at twice my rate, so if I work three times harder I will be getting better at a faster rate than him! Or is math to difficult for that Hyuuga brain of yours?" Gai grinned proudly.

"Don't start up again." Riko warned, knitting her brow in irritation.

"Can't you just try and be mad at him like a normal person?" Koji asked. "He was a total jerk to you and you're still acting like you look up to that spoiled kid."

"Just because he doesn't like me doesn't mean I have to dislike him." Gai explained. "Hating others like that is a waste of time. What do I get out of hating him? Now working harder so I can beat him, THAT is productive! "

"I just don't understand you." Koji sighed, standing up and picking up the staff leaning against the wall.

"Then let's leave it at that for now." Riko said, also standing up. "Come on, let's get back to training."

Meanwhile on the other side of town Kakashi was fending off a pretty fierce set of sneezes. "Achoo! Achoo!"

"Oh my my." Misaki commented. "Looks like someone is talking up a storm about you!" She smiled.

Kakshi waved it off. "That's just an old wives superstition." He said, "Must be something in the air bothering my nose."

_How can anything get to your nose when you are wearing a mask all the time? _She thought.

"No matter." Misako replied. "You've been doing very well drawing the elemental charka out into your hand. The power you can already draw is quite impressive. Now we need to refine it a little."

"Will you be teaching me that technique you taught to your other student Koji?" Kakashi asked.

"Are you referring to Souhou no Kami?" She asked. Kakashi nodded as a reply.

"I'll admit you could probably use that technique with some work, but it is certainly better suited for Koji. His gentle fist technique is what allows him to use it so well. I think we should begin with some more power focused techniques for you like my lightning beast."

Kakashi looked a little disappointed which Misaki instantly picked up on. "Don't worry though. Even geniuses have to start somewhere. Besides, as you develop some basic elemental techniques you might decide the Souhou no Kami isn't suited for you anyways. You might even come up with your own technique!" She smiled. "Just give it a chance and if you are feeling inspired to experiment with an idea I will do my best to help you with it." She explained.

The disappointment faded a little and he gave a nod. "So how do we start this technique?" He asked.

She ran him through the basics of how to use the technique and stepped back to allow him to work on it. She still couldn't get over how much he looked like his father. It wasn't just the hair. Even his eyes were similar. She couldn't help but wonder if the rest of his face was similar but it was hard to tell with the mask covering it. Misaki sat down next to a nearby tree and monitored him as he worked. She was so happy finally getting to work with Kakashi after all this time. She pulled the little bracelet out of her pocket.

"I promised you I would look after him Sakumo. I won't let you down." She said to the little bracelet.

The beads responded with a gentle glint in the sunlight as Misaki played with them in her hands. While she did her best to keep focused on the student before her, her mind began to drift a little back to her teenage years and meeting the former owner of her bracelet.

It had been a hot summer day in Konoha and Misaki had been training with Minato like she normally did in her spare time.

"Try to keep up Minato-kun!" She teased, striking at him with her kunai before vanishing into another cloud of sparks. Minato managed to block the attack before also vanishing into his own jutsu.

"You know you're just going to lose again." He warned, attempting to strike her when they both reappeared on the field, him standing behind her. She was ready though and blocked the attack. She spun around quickly and pushed back against him to make some distance before taking off into another denkou steppu.

"Not in your life!" She snapped back when she reappeared. She managed to kick him hard once in the lower back. He was about the turn around and return the favour, but she was already gone before he could. He braced himself, scanning the surrounding area for any signs of her.

"Are you hiding on me?" Minato teased a little. His eyes darted around violently, trying to pick up where she was.

"Just thought I'd throw off your pace a little." She replied, reappearing behind him. He was ready for her this time though and quickly reached behind him and grabbed onto one of her wrists, flipping around in the process. He drew a kunai to her throat with his other hand looking a little surprised to see her holding her own kunai to his throat with the hand he hadn't managed to grab.

"My, my. That was quite the show, wouldn't you say Tsunade?" Jiraiya commented from the edge to the field. The two teens looked over at the pair watching them with interest. Tsunade gave a nod.

"It's true what they say. You two are becoming the fastest ninja's in the whole village. Soon no one will be able to keep up with you." She replied as her and Jiraiya approached them.

"Jiraiya-sensei!" Minato smiled, pulling away from his opponent. "You're back from your trip."

The older man smiled at his student. "Yes, we just got back into town this morning. Thought I would come by and see how you were doing, but I can see you've been keeping yourself busy training with this lovely-"

"Don't you even try it you old pervert! She's under age!" Tsunade cut him off by curtly by knocking him on the head.

"How am I supposed to know that? She's very well developed." He began to reply while gesturing with his hands.

"Sensei..." Minato said; sweat dropping a little from embarrassment. Misaki clutched her arms over her chest, realizing that Jiraiya was trying to get a free show.

"It's a wonder female ninja's are even allowed on your squad Minato-kun. " Misaki commented, blood rushing to her cheeks.

"I agree. " Tsunade added.

"Tsunade! How can you say such things about me?" Jiraiya replied with a hurt look on his face. "I would never disgrace a pupil of mine in such a fashion." He crossed his arms over his chest and let out an indignant huff to emphasize his displeasure.

Tsunade looked to Minato questioningly.

"Has he ever done anything inappropriate with your teammate?" She asked him bluntly.

Minato smiled nervously, knowing that lying to Tsunade was too risky of a venture for him. "No not really." He replied. "He's usually too busy at the bathing houses for that sort of thing." It was the best honest defence he could provide for his superior.

"How dare you sell me out!" Jiraiya shouted. "I'm your sensei for crying out loud!"

Tsunade cracked her knuckles a little before forming a fist. "You dirty pervert!" She growled, turning her attention to him. "I thought you told me you'd given up those bad habits?"

Jiraiya took a few nervous steps backward. "Tsunade, please." He begged.

"Now might be a good time to run." Misaki suggested.

"My thoughts exactly." The older man replied. He quickly spun on his heel and took off down the hill and into the village. Tsunade was hot on this trail though.

"Tsunade...please! We just got back from our mission. My wounds have not fully healed!" He demanded.

"Then I will heal them and make them again!" She shouted back, before their voices faded to a dull hum and out of reach of the two teenager's hearing.

Minato gave a long stretch over his head. "And on that note, I think I'm going to call it a night. You want to come by the ramen shop and have dinner with me?" He asked.

Misaki stuck out her tongue as she readjusted her hair into a tight bun on her head. "We just had Ramen the other day. Shouldn't you take a break once in a while?" She asked.

"I'm their best customer." He argued. "They'll be disappointed if I don't make it!"

"Suit yourself." She replied. "I'm not really in the mood for ramen. I'm going into the market to pick up a few things and make dinner at home. I'll see you tomorrow."

Minato gave a nod. "More for me then. See you later Misaki-chan." He said, giving a wave before taking off towards his favourite place in the whole village.

Misaki picked up her equipment on the side of the field and began to head into town. The village was still bustling even in the early evening as she walked past all the various shops looking for what she needed.

She hummed to herself contently only half paying attention to where she was going. It was warm peaceful days like these she cherished the most. In her half dream-like state, she failed to notice the man arguing at the fish monger's table just ahead of her.

"What do you mean you have no tuna? I need tuna for my dinner party tonight!" The man shouted.

"I'm sorry sir, but the catch was poor this morning and we sold out of the tuna very quickly. We should have some more first thing tomorrow." The store owner replied.

"That's not good enough! I need it now dammit!" He shouted, taking a few steps back and waving his arms as he yelled. He put his foot back just at the precise moment Misaki was walking by and caught her by the leg. Misaki tripped a little, but managed to catch herself on the edge of a cart. The cart unfortunately, was not as stable as she had predicted and it ended up tumbling over, spilling a variety of root vegetables all over the ground.

"What have you done?" Cried the owner of the vegetables.

"I...I'm so sorry." She replied, a little stunned from being abruptly pulled from her dream-like state.

"Sorry? You've bruised all my vegetables. You will have to pay for all of them!" He shouted.

"What? They aren't bruised. How can you expect me to pay for all of this?" She demanded back to the man looking at the mess on the ground.

"You will pay dammit! This is all your fault." He snapped at her, grabbing her by the arm.

Misaki glared at him. The man clearly didn't realize she wasn't a regular civilian. Perhaps she should have left her forehead protector on...

"I can't possibly afford all these vegetables here. I don't have that kind of money." She said, tugging her arm back, but the man had a rather firm grip on her.

"Listen you little bitch..." The man growled.

"Now sir that is no way to talk to a young lady." A man's voice came from behind the squabbling pair. "I think it's fair to say it was an accident and she can't possibly be expected to pay for all of this. No one person could eat that many vegetables before they would go bad."

The shopkeeper looked over Misaki's shoulder at the man intruding in on their conversation. "Who the hell do you think you are butting into...", but the merchant's eyes widened a little in surprise when he recognized the man. "I mean uh..."

Misaki furrowed her brow a little wondering who could have possibly scared the man still clutching to her arm. She turned slightly and her eyes also widened. There were very few people who didn't know who this man was standing behind them.

"Hello there." Sakumo said with a gentle smile. "I couldn't help but notice the argument you two were having."

Misaki couldn't bring words to her mouth. The man behind her was a legend, maybe an even bigger legend than her best friend's teacher.

The merchant instantly let go of her wrist. "I'm so sorry about that. It clearly must have been a misunderstanding. You know what? Don't worry about a thing. I'll just clean this up myself. Here. Here. Have a sweet potato. On me. Please enjoy it!" He said, quickly grabbing one from the ground and thrusting it into her arms. He then quickly tended to the other scattered vegetables and began to roll his cart away. "Have a wonderful evening. So nice to see you Hatake-san!" The man shouted before disappearing through the crowd.

Misaki then turned to the man behind her. "Why is he so frightened of you?" Misaki asked. She knew the man behind her was well known in the village, but it wasn't for being scary.

"Oh he's not scared." Sakumo replied with a shake of his head. "Just a little nervous because I'm one of his regular customers. Guess he's afraid of losing my business."

"Are you sure it's not because of who you are?" She questioned.

"Who I am?" Sakumo asked a little surprised. "Should that really matter?"

Misaki rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips. "You can't actually expect me to buy that modest act!" She snapped. "You're Hatake Sakumo! You're like, one of the biggest names in the village here!"

"Oh, so you know who I am? I still don't see why that would matter to a man selling potatoes and squash." He replied. He then looked after the man that had scurried away. "I wish he hadn't run away so fast though. I was really hoping to buy a few things from him."

Misaki then peered at the stuff he was already holding. "That's an awful lot of stuff you have there." She commented. "Are you having a big party or something?"

Sakumo examined the bags in his arms. "Hm? Oh no, not really. I'm just shopping for dinner for my son."

"Your son? How old is he?" She asked.

"Let's see, his birthday is coming up in about a month so that would make him...11 months old." He replied.

"Eleven months old. He must be so cute!" She replied. Her eyes then fell on the bags again. "Wait a minute. You can't feed that sort of thing to a baby!" She shouted at him, causing poor Sakumo to pale a little.

END OF CHAPTER 19

Thank you for all of your wonderful reviews. It really helps to keep me motivated. I'm so happy so many people enjoy this story. I'll be sure to update again soon!


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